Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Flightless Bird
Chapter 4
After a few hours of rest, I wake up and have to remind myself that we are no longer in Denver and I am no longer Kena Meyers. I am now Bella Swan, new resident to Forks, WA.
I throw back the faded purple comforter and sit up in the surprisingly comfortable twin bed. I never sleep much in the car as we travel from city to city, so my nap was desperately needed, and feeling revived, my attitude has dropped and I set off to find dad.
The house is quiet as I tip toe around searching the four measly rooms that make up our living quarters and come up empty. The panic that sets in is immediate and overwhelming. It's as if the breath has literally been knocked out of me and I become frantic. I go to the window first, no sign of him outside, then I head to the back of the house to go look in the garage. The wind is whipping at me, blowing my hair in my face and sticking to my cheeks wet with tears. I'm running at this point, desperate to see my dad, the feeling of abandonment is too much.
I'm about three steps away from the garage door when it shakes lightly and rolls up revealing my dad with a confused expression as he takes in my frantic state. I barrel into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and crying into his chest. He pulls me tighter to him resting his cheek on the top of my head and whispering words into my ear.
I calm gradually to the sounds of his repeated words "its ok kiddo, I'm here, were ok, I gotcha."
When my breathing returns to normal I straighten up and see the regret on dad's face. He assures me he didn't mean to scare me. He checked on me before coming outside to clean out the car and was positive that he would be done before I even woke up. Next time he will leave a note.
We retreat back into the house and go over the plans for our integration into the Podunk town of Forks.
School is a must with Dad. He is already in the process of registering me at the local high school and has dropped me off in the center of town to check out both the library and a book store. We passed both on the way to the school and after much complaining, dad turned around and reluctantly dropped me off double checking that I had my cell phone on me and what to do if I spotted something amiss. Several eye rolls and 'yes dads' later I am walking from the library to the book store.
The library was limited in its collections and I quickly grew bored after venturing up and down all 15 rows of adult books. Hoping the book store had a larger collection I glace across the street and recognize Angela's Diner from our trip through town early this morning. It has the classic diner look to it – a small diner car with neon blinking sign and chrome accents. The wall of windows across the front display families enjoying meals together and individuals dotting the countertop separating the tables/booths and the kitchen. The parking lot was full of beat up cars and trucks and a lone shiny silver Volvo that stuck out like a sore thumb.
I had barely made it into the book store before my phone pinged alerting to a new message.
Almost done at the school. You ok? – Dad.
I knew better than to delay my response and quickly typed back 'all good' before pocketing my phone and heading to the literature section. It was located in the front left corner and I quickly spied Wuthering Heights, plucked it from the shelf and tucked into an over stuffed chair next to a picture window. From this seat I could easily see if dad approach and began reading through one of my favorite books.
The chime above the door woke me from my reading induced fog and I saw the shiny silver Volvo parked right in front of the store. The sticker on the car read Forks Washington, but everything else about the car suggested otherwise.
"Ready to go?" Dad asked from beside me.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't see you pull up, I would have just met you outside." I said, closing the book and returning it to the shelf.
"It's ok Kiddo, want to get some breakfast?" He said tilting his head to the side to indicate the diner across the street.
"Sure."
We were quickly seated in the busy diner at a booth towards the back with a window to our right. The menu held typical diner cuisine and after our orders were placed I began to people watch from my window seat. There were some school children being walked to the local elementary school on the corner, older teens headed towards the high school no doubt, and moms and dads heading in all directions from the grocery store to the accounting practice and everywhere in between.
It was the man exiting Cullen Pharmacy that grabbed my attention. He was dressed in dark dress pants, a white button down shirt with dark tie covered in a dark jacket – he looked professional and more dressed up than anyone else I had seen so far today. The Volvo parked across the street chirped and the man got in quickly speeding off towards the high school. He looked too old to be a student, but he didn't exactly seem old enough to be a teacher.
Dad slid a thick folder across the table towards me and after opening it, I quickly filled out the necessary information in the transfer student handbook that would allow me to attend Forks High. Having completed these so many times in the past, I could practically finish it with my eyes closed.
"We'll need to get you a car." Dad said hesitantly as the waitress placed the plates filled with pancakes, eggs and bacon down in front of us.
"Really?" I asked. I had gotten my license when I was in Denver, but was never allowed to drive on my own. Of course getting the license was a little tricky, but dad created some false documents that the DMV approved of, letting me get the license.
"Yeah, I have a few things lined up in Port Angels for work. It's a little further than I want to be away from you, but its whats best for us right now and since there is no bus system in Forks you're going to need to drive to school. I don't want you walking like a lot of the other kids." I could already see the worry in dads expression, but knew that this little bit of freedom would come with huge stipulations. He didn't wait long before listing them.
"Of course that will mean you'll need your cell on you all the time. I'll need to pick up a car charger too, we'll scout out some emergency meet up locations this afternoon, and of course we will need to familiarize ourselves with town and the best roads in and out." He said as the excitement of the car idea slowly fizzled away.
"Hey, your new in town, aren't ya?" an enthusiastic voice interrupted. I turned to see a petite, dark haired girl around my age leaning against the counter with two coffees in her hand. She had a caring smile and swiftly put me at ease. I smiled back easily and nodded.
"Well, I'm Alice," she smiled, "what year are you?"
"Bella," I said, pointing to my self and then to my dad, "this is my dad Charlie. I'm a senior, starting tomorrow".
"Oh that's so exciting, I'm a senior too!" I didn't think her smile could get and bigger. "Well, I don't want to be late, but hopefully I will see you tomorrow. You can meet me by the picnic tables in the quad in the morning and we can go over your schedule, hopefully we will have some classes together! It was nice meeting you guys." She left before I could utter a word and dad's shoulders were shaking with laughter he was holding in.
"What?" I bit angrily.
"Something tells me that I am going to be seeing a lot of that spitfire." He laughed. "It's ok to make friends Kiddo." His joking tone dropped letting the seriousness of his statement hang in the air between us.
"I know," I said, suddenly finding the puddle of syrup on my plate fascinating, "I just hate to make connections that I know I will have to leave behind."
Sensing my unease the subject was dropped, the bill was paid and we were on our way to the local used dealership to buy me a car.
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