Disclaimer: None of this is owned by me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Two: Gossip Mongers
I walked up the door and pulled the key out from the eve. When I stepped through the door I immediately knew that Dad was on the phone. I could tell by the fact that he was talking in an agitated tone with no one replying. At first, I couldn't tell who he was talking to, because he usually never gets that upset with his normal telephone friends. It wasn't until he said the name Billy that I knew he was talking to Jacob's father. I felt terrible about doing it, but I just had to know why Dad was so mad at Billy. I had never seen him act this way toward his best friend, so I decided that I would delay making my entrance known.
"I don't care what you or your tribe believes. You can't just judge nice people like that when you get a 'funny' feeling," I heard as I snuck over to the kitchen door frame. Dad waited a couple of minutes as Billy replied.
"Do you know how crazy you sound? I met the Cullens and they most certainly are not evil," pause, "I know because they're actually really nice. I got kind of iffy about them having all those teenagers around, but they all seem very polite and well behaved—" So that's what all this was about. Billy thought the Cullens were evil? Ha! Edward may hate me on the spot, but I hardly consider that evil. And I'll assure you that Alice is quite the opposite if you ask me.
"What, do you think I'm stupid now? I would know if they were just acting that way. They all seemed pretty genuine to me. But I am going to keep an eye on those kids to make sure they don't get rowdy," pause, "Where do you get off calling them that? You don't know these people from Adam. That's probably the most ridiculous superstition I've heard you make up so far," pause, "Your father knew them?" he asked in a tone that questioned his friend's sanity, "Billy, your father has been dead for over five years, and these people just moved here last Sunday." I wondered what Billy calling them that was getting Dad so irked. I figured that it wasn't something I really wanted to here, so I decided it was time that I "came home".
I walked over to the front door and opened it once more. This time, though, I shut it real hard so Dad was sure to hear. I made a show of huffing and puffing and dropping my book bag next to the closet door under the stairs.
"We can talk about this later. Bella's home," he mumbled and hung up. I guess he thought I was def or something, "Hey Bells. How was school, honey?"
"There are some new kids at school," I said. I wondered if he would tell me about Billy's suspicion or not. He usually told me stuff like that.
"Yes, a Mr. Carlisle Cullen took a job at the hospital at the beginning of last week. I met the family as they were moving in. Did you introduce yourself?" He met them that long ago and he didn't mention it? Huh. That's different.
"Yeah. I met Alice and Edward. I have classes with them," I said as I sauntered over to the pantry to get out the contents for tonight's dinner. I decided I would cook Charlie's favorite: fish cooked in his friend Harry's fish fry with corn and green beans. He saw what I was taking out and smiled his crinkly-eyed smile. I like to make my dad smile. After all, we're all we've got. We fell into silence, and I didn't really mind. Dad and I aren't very good with words, so this silence happened often. I went on with the cooking and called up Jake when I finished up. I was glad that cooking took a couple of hours, because it kept my mind off wanting to know what all Billy said about the Cullens. I knew that Jake would know what Billy had against the new family even though he wasn't there earlier. If it was a tribal superstition, then Jake would have gone to the meeting of the council when the news sprung. His father thought that Jake needed to be informed of his family history, so he's been going to the meetings with him since he was seven.
The phone just kept ringing. Ring. Ring. Ring. On about the twelfth ring Billy picked up. His gruff voice said a rough "Hello?" into the phone.
"Hey Billy. It's Bella. Is Jake there yet?" I said quickly.
"Oh hello Bella," he said with obvious relief in his voice. I guess he must've thought it was Dad, "Yes, of course, Jake's right here." There was a short pause as the phone was passed from father to son.
"Bella?" I heard the familiar greeting from my friend.
"Hey Jake. Will you meet me at our spot? I want to ask you something."
"Uh…Sure, I guess. I'll be there in ten."
I hung up the phone and went to slip on my rain coat. I went over to Dad and told him I'd be back in a couple of hours. When he asked where I was going I just responded by saying "My spot" and smiling. He never made me be more specific when it came to the place where I went to be alone or think. Jake and I had been walking in the woods one day about two years ago, and we came across this area where a tree had fallen and landed on one of the neighboring trees. The spot was perfect; it was like a small place where it was surrounded by this circle of magnificent trees, and they did not dare grow past that ring. Once we found it, Jake brought a tarp, and we attached it to a branch of each of the trees in the ring to protect us from the everlasting rain. Our makeshift roof has continued to hold up so far. Over the last couple of years we had brought a couple of lawn chairs for us, so we wouldn't have to sit on the wet ground.
It was about a five minute walk from my house to the spot and a little bit longer journey for Jake, so I decided to take my time and appreciate the view. Though it was only trees and moss it never failed to take my breath away. I was so far into the forest by now that I could no longer see my house behind me. This was the part that I always got a little nervous, because the woods always brought an eerie silence when you were the only one around. I could hear nothing but my breath, my heart beat, and the small cry of a crow up above. I heard the rustle of a bush and turned to the noise. Of course, there was nothing there. My mind was just playing tricks on me I guess. I kept on my way, and came to my destination with about two minutes to spare. Yep. There he was. Jake was walking about fifty feet in front of me. I gave him a wave and sat in my comfy chair.
"Hey Bells. What'd you need? You sounded kind of upset on the phone…"
"Oh. Well, when I came home today Charlie was on the phone with Billy, and they weren't exactly having a pleasant conversation," I told him.
"That must be what my dad seemed so stressed about," he guessed.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. But, I was wondering what they were arguing about. I don't think I've ever heard them get so mad at each other before."
He looked pretty confused. "How should I know what they were talking about? I wasn't there, remember?"
"I know, but I thought you might be able to tell me something since I got that it was one of the tribal suspicions and that it was about the Cullens," I saw a flicker of recognition when I said their name. I guess he knew something after all.
"I'm not allowed to talk about that—"
"Why not?!" I was starting to get annoyed. Jake and I could always talk about anything, and now he's holding out when I'm the most curious I've ever been about something. I don't know what was going on with me. Whenever I heard the word Cullen I just had to listen.
"We're not allowed to talk about anything that goes on at the meetings and you know that," he explained. He was right of course. I did know that, but I thought he knew he could trust me.
"Jake, you can trust me. Come on, we're friends. I would never tell on you or tell some one else or anything. Please, just tell me!" I was begging, and I'm sure it didn't look too pretty.
"I—I don't know. I know I can trust you, but if I tell you I'll be giving up tribe secret, not to mention breaking a fifty-year-old treaty—"
"Treaty? What treaty?"
"Oh, great. Now I've done it."
"Jake, just tell me already. Please, I'm begging you."
"Why? Why do you care so much about these people?"
"I don't really know. I just know that I need to know what you're dad was saying about them that made my dad so upset. It had to pretty bad. And, hey, if it's something bad I need to know, right, because I have classes with two of them." I was stretching it with the last part just to get him to crack. I knew I was taking advantage of the fact that he's had a crush on me since we were little kids. He cared too much for my well being not to tell me.
"Okay, fine," bingo, "It's more of an old tribal story, and I'm not even sure I believe it. Don't let this go to your head or anything, okay?"
"Okay," I put my hand in the air like I was surrendering, "Just tell me, please?"
"I cannot believe I'm doing this. My dad, not to mention the rest of the Quileute tribe, is going to kill me, you know that? If what these stories say are true, I could be starting a war just by saying this crap—"
"Jake! If you really don't want to tell me, just don't. I'll just have to find out the hard way by spending the entire year sitting next to them…" I trailed off.
"Fine, that sounds good to me. They're not supposed to be dangerous anymore anyways."
"What do you mean 'they're not supposed to be dangerous anymore'?"
"Look, Bella, I have to go. I have to be home soon. Quil and Embry are bringing over some more parts for those dirt bikes we've been messing with."
"Fine, be that way. I'm going home," I pouted. I turned and walked back towards my house. Jacob was being so cryptic that it made me want to know what was going on even more. I thought on what it could be about while I was walking home, and started to realize that it was getting dark pretty fast. I'm not scared of the dark or anything, but forested areas are always way dark at night, and soon I wouldn't be able to see two feet in front of me. I started getting nervous as the light started becoming nonexistent. I heard a rustle to my left and took off running. The woods are way creepy, and I didn't want to get lost in them. I was about to start screaming for help when I heard the noise of a car passing by. Thank God. I was just a few feet away from the welcomed shelter of my house. When I broke through the trees I ran strait the door, and busted inside. I went into the living room and saw that Dad was watching football, so I kissed him goodnight and went upstairs to bed.
Sleep came easy, but wasn't very comforting. At first I found myself at school. I was sitting in a classroom with an unfamiliar teacher rambling about something that I couldn't quite seem to concentrate on. All I found relevant was that I could feel someone's hateful glares boring into the back of my head. When I turned to find the culprit it was none other than Edward Cullen. I stared deep into his eyes, and there seemed to be something accompanying the hate. I didn't have enough time to find what it was, because he got up and lunged across the room at me. I knew that the logical feeling right now would be fear, yet I found that all I could think was: Anything to make him happy. It was completely insane, but that's what was going through my brain. But as he made his way, everything stopped, because the scene changed and I became alone in the dark forest outside my house.
It was pitch black, and I could see nothing. There were noises of things moving in the leaves all around. Every which way I turned there was rustling and crunching and cracking. I felt someone or something behind me, so I started to run. But my inevitably clumsy nature took over. I fell to the ground after tripping over a twig, or at least I thought it was a twig. When I tried to get up something knocked me back down. I turned over and saw two glowing, penetrating eyes staring back down at me. The next thing I knew, I woke up screaming. The clock glowing blue on the nightstand next to my bed read six twenty-two.
I had all of eight minutes left to sleep, so I didn't bother trying to rest again. I turned on my lamp, and walked over to my dresser to grab my clothes and bathroom things. The one bad thing about this old house was that it had all of one bathroom, so I keep all my stuff in my room to save my dad the embarrassment.
I took my time in the shower by letting the warm water surround my entire being and release all of my tension from the night's dream. I usually don't have nightmares like that. I can't remember the last time I woke up screaming. At first I'm surprised that Dad hasn't come rushing in but then I remember that he went to work about two and a half hours ago. I finished up in the shower, and turned everything off. I still had about twenty minutes until Lila and her mother showed up, so I got dressed and went downstairs to grab some Captain Crunch.
I heard a honking coming from outside. I looked out the window, and, sure enough, there was Lila's mother's minivan. I grabbed my black raincoat, threw it on, picked up my book bag, and ran out the door. I didn't bother locking up, because crime just didn't happen here. I don't I've ever heard of anything illegal happening in the safe little town of Forks.
"Hey Bells. Oh! Oh my God! Guess what I've got," she said while sliding open the van's door. Someone apparently had their coffee this morning.
"Good morning Mrs. Peru," I said, and then turned back to Lila, "I'm too asleep to guess anything this morning, Lila. Just tell me please."
"Oh-Kay," she dragged out dramatically, "Well, I've got some details on the new kids." Lila had an impish grin spreading across her face. I was finally going to learn something about these people.
"Really?" I said with obvious hope in my voice, "Tell me."
"Well, they moved here from Alaska. The father is a new doctor at the hospital, and his wife is some kind of decorator or architect. They bought that old abandoned place just outside of town, and the wife, Esme I think, refinishing it," so far, nothing new, "And both of them are way too young to have teenage kids. They're, like, around twenty-two or something. But, they're not their kids at all. The girl, Alice, and her brother, Edward wasn't it? Well, anyways, they and that huge one sitting with them at lunch are all brother and sister, but they're the kids of the wife's sister and her husband. They died or something. And the other two, the tall blondes, they're twins, but they're adopted. Now, the best part is, they're all 'together'!" she was racing through all these details, and I'm wondering who filled her in about this. I almost just start thinking she made it all, but I let her finish anyways, "Like, the tall blonde guy and Alice, and the tall blonde girl and the big, huge guy, you know?"
"You mean like 'together' together?"
"Yes! You know that kid Jimmy, the junior that my brother hangs out with? Well, he was over at our house last night, and he said that yesterday, after school, he saw Alice and the blonde guy holding hands, and he saw the other two kissing each other by the gym doors closest to the parking lot!"
"How do you always seem to figure this stuff out? You've always got the best gossip," I said in wonder.
"It's not gossip, its fact," she said, "Besides, my neighbor, Mrs. Grange, works as a nurse at the hospital, and she got the information first hand from the doctor himself, and then passed it on to me, of course," she said with a flutter of her lashes.
"Well, fiction or fact, gossip is gossip," I said as we pulled up to the curb at the school.
Lila and I said goodbye to her mother, and made our way to Geometry. I'm just glad that day one was over yesterday, because on day two, everything seems a little more familiar. We know where, exactly, all the building and classes are, for one, and day two is the day that the actual school routine starts. We come in the classroom, hand the teacher our syllabuses, and walk over to our desks. Alice is already there starting on her warm up. When we sat down she offered a small wave and Lila returned it with a smile. I was a little disoriented after all the facts I had learned about her and her family this morning. They seemed like nice people (with the exception of Edward), and Jacob said they weren't supposed to be dangerous, so I was willing to get to know Alice and maybe we could possibly be friends. I didn't want to seem rude, so I gave her a wave and said good morning. She seemed to brighten when I acknowledged her. That, in turn, made me smile. I don't know what it is about making people happy that's just so uplifting, but when you started, you just didn't want to stop. Putting people in good moods put me in one as well.
"So, Alice," I started, "how was your first day at Forks High?"
"Oh fine, thanks. It helped tremendously that everyone's so nice here," she smiled graciously. I was kind of shocked at her use of vocabulary. Not many teenagers I knew even knew what tremendously meant.
"I'm glad," I told her, and I was. I hated it when people where mean to new kids. I remembered that that was how Lila and I became friends. She was new our fifth grade year, and there were some kids picking on her as she was waiting for her mom to come pick her up. I was so mad when they knocked her open book bag over and everything went flying, that I went over to them and told those brats off. I remembered saying something along the lines of "You snot-faced, rat-tailed, spider monkeys need to go home and tell your parents to teach you some real manners," or something like that. I had turned around to help her pick up her things, and she was just rolling on the ground, laughing so hard that her face was red. I was embarrassed, and, of course, I blushed so red that she laughed even harder. I was about to run off when she got up and gave me a hug. I was kind of taken aback, but I hugged her anyways. Some how, I knew that we were going to be great friends, and, what do you know, we are.
The teacher stood up then, and told us to take out paper for notes. Today we were learning chapter six: volume and area. I turned to my left to get paper out of my bag, but Alice was faster. She had already put a couple of pieces on my desk.
"Thanks," I told her with a smile.
"No problem," her answering smile greatly outdid mine.
The notes didn't take me long. It was mostly definitions and drawing. We still had about forty-five more minutes left, and I wasn't sure what I should do. I could check my home work from last night, or maybe do some reading. Today I was reading Pride & Prejudice for what seemed like the millionth time. I don't know what it was about these books, but I could pick up almost any book by Jane Austen, and read and reread them over and over. My favorites were, of course, Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibly. I had this gigantic volume with all of her novels in one back at the house, as well as all of them in their own individual novels. Call me crazy, but I thought it better to own both types. This way, if I was at home and wanted to read them I wouldn't have to get out the big book. But if I was traveling (not that I did much of that) I would only have to bring one book and not seven. I took out the book and began on page one twenty-seven where I left off.
It seemed like mere moments since I began reading, but I had lost myself in the story and apparently the time just slipped by and the bell was now ringing. I turned to my left and there was Alice. She was looking down at me expectantly, and I remembered we had next hour together. I quickly gathered up my things and followed her to the door. I made sure not to trip again.
"I saw that you finished the notes fairly quickly," she said unexpectedly.
"Uh, yeah, I just copied all the definitions and diagrams real fast. No one ever said the notes had to be pretty," I told her. She laughed then, and it was more the sound of wind chimes than a laugh.
"No, I don't believe they did," she agreed, "Hey, can we stop at my locker real quick? I forgot my book for the next class."
"Of course," I said. We still had plenty of time left, and I could see the classroom from here, "Where's your locker?"
"Oh, it's just around the corner. It won't take long, I promise." Her face went all blank again, like yesterday. I was about to ask her if she was alright, but as soon as it came, it went. We continued walking to her locker. She walked up to locker one twenty-nine, and turned the code so fast that the numbers were just a blur. Amazingly, she got it right the first try.
"Hey, Alice," the big burly-looking one from lunch came up and tapped her on the back. He was in the process of walking away when she swung around and called to him.
"Emmett! Emmett, I need to talk to you right now," she said as she walked up to him, grabbed his shirt, and turned back to me, "I'll be back in a minute Bella. If you don't want to wait, you can just go on to class." She was all smiles at me, but as she was turning back to Emmett I could see a glimpse of worry on her face.
"I don't have time for this, Alice. Rosalie is waiting for me outside of the gym—" Emmett began. The way he was talking to her about this Rosalie girl made me think that she was the tall, stunning blonde girl from their lunch table.
"No, I need to talk to you right now. It's about Edward."
As if that explained everything, Emmett turned his attention full on to her. I wanted to stay and try to listen in, because, mean as he was, every time I heard Edward's name my heart skipped a beat. But I excused it off as the fact that he's utterly gorgeous. I also figured that eves dropping on my new acquaintance would not start us off well in the trust department, so I just went on my way to Language Arts. I still had an ample amount of time left before the bell rang, so I took my time down the sidewalk towards building twelve.
When I finally did make it to the door, a note told me that the class was meeting in building five today. Building five was the computer lab, so I figured we were going to be doing some research, or at least some writing. Good, I thought, I've wanted to do some writing lately.
I went back the way I came, so I could just meet up with Alice where I left her. When I got to her locker she and Emmett were gone. I was a little confused, but I waved it away and continued to the computer lab. I saw Jessica and Lauren standing outside the door to building ten, and as soon as they saw me they, of course, turned to one another and started whispering. I paid little attention to them anymore. Over the past few years I've gotten used to their making fun of me. I learned long ago that it was just petty and immature.
I looked swiftly at my watch as I entered the room. There was about two minutes to spare, and I couldn't help but notice that Alice nor Edward was anywhere to be seen yet. I wasn't really worried too much, because there was still plenty of time for them to make it. I found a seat next to a boy named Ben and held my breath for the arrival of Edward Cullen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: It's a little shorter than last chapter, but I still think you'll like it. I hope you enjoy! Also, I'll be updating a bit sooner for the other chapters. Last week I went through a phase of writer's block, but…Please Review! And, thanks for reading.