"Hey, Bella, can I ask you for a favor?" Frankie asked later that day.
"Sure."
"Can I stay the night here? Mom and Dad only got two rooms and I have to share a bed with Ronnie last night I slept in the car but I'm so tired."
"Of course you can stay here, you can have my bed I'll sleep on the couch."
"No, I'll sleep on the couch I just want someplace warm." Frankie said with a chuckle.
"I'll go tell Charlie you're staying."
Over the remaining weekend Frankie and Bella bonded and when the day came for the Vander Waal family to leave and go back to New York Frankie broke down.
"I can't go back there!" Frankie cried, she was sitting on the front lawn of Charlie's house her knee's pulled close to her chest. "I can't do it!"
"Honey, I know this is hard for you but there isn't another choice." Billie said. "New York is your home is, it's where your school is, and your friends are."
"Alexei was my friend!" Frankie cried.
"Tori, Frankie seems to like it here so much and I really wouldn't mind if she staid here a few more weeks." Charlie said.
"Is that what you want?" Tori asked and Frankie nodded.
"Anything is better then going home." Frankie cried.
"Then you can spend a month here, but you have to go home eventually. You can't hide from this forever."
Charlie enrolled Frankie into Forks High that same day and the rest of the Vander Waal family left for New York. It was easy for them to find another bed and Frankie was able to settle into life at the Swan house easily.
"I never had a sister; I think this is going to be fun." Bella said, that same night as they got ready for bed.
"Having a sister is fun." Frankie said with a smile.
"You know I'm sure you don't have to go to school tomorrow, I mean you could wait another week." Bella said.
"No, I want to go; I don't want to spend all day by myself." Frankie said. "And I've never gone to a public school before; I'm excited to not have to wear a uniform."
"You're going to like my friends and I'm sure they're like you. Forks is a small town so anything new gets a lot of attention." Bella said.
They both lay down and turned off the light, they where silent for a few minutes until Frankie spoke up.
"What's with that Edward guy?"
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
"He's just – different, I mean he's so – ethereal it's unnatural." Frankie said and Bella was silent for a second.
"It's just – the Cullen family – it's hard to explain it's just who they are."
"There's more of them?" Frankie asked.
"Mhmm, Dr Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme, they adopted three children including Edward, his sister Alice and brother Emmett and then they foster the Hale children, Jasper and Rosalie they're twins."
"That's a lot of kids."
"Yeah, they're al close in age too." Bella said. "It probably just has to do with how they where raised, confidence maybe."
"Maybe." Frankie said with a yawn.
Frankie woke up the next morning a little confused and then when she realized where she was she felt sort of sad and then a little happy and nervous about school. She got up and after going to the bathroom and cleaning up she got dressed for school.
"You look really nice." Bella said over breakfast.
"Thanks." Frankie said with a shrug. "I feel really good right now."
"That's good." Bella said.
After breakfast they walked outside and it was raining lightly, Frankie pulled her leather jacket tighter herself as she hurried to Bella's truck which roared to life when Bella started it.
"You get use to the sound." Bella said over the noise and Frankie nodded. It was a short distance too Forks High School and Bella waited out front while Frankie went into the main office.
"I'm Francis Vander Waal, I'm new." Frankie said, once inside.
"I'm Mrs. Cope." The secretary said and handed Frankie a schedule and a map of the school and a slip of paper that she'd need to get every teacher to sign and then return to the classroom.
"If you need anything just ask me." Mrs. Cope said before Frankie left, Bella was still waiting.
"What's your first class?" Bella asked.
"European Literature, building G room 7" Frankie said.
"That's on the other side of the school, I can show you the way if you'd like." Bella offered.
"I can find it, don't worry about me." Frankie said.
"Okay then, I'll see you at lunch."
"Buh-Bye." Frankie said, and she took a second to look at her map before starting off in the direction she hoped was toward the classroom, from what she could tell was either at the other side of the school or in Alaska.
After walking to the last building and still not finding the right building Frankie was regretting her decision to not accept Bella's help, with an exasperated sigh Frankie turned around and saw a girl about 4'10 and spiky black hair standing in front of her just inches away. A normal person would have jumped back in shock but Frankie wasn't exactly normal, behind the small girl with spiky black hair was a taller guy with blonde hair who looked to be in pain.
"Hi, I'm Alice." The girl said with a chirpy high pitched voice that sounded like music.
"Frankie." Frankie said with an uncertain smile.
"You look lost." Alice said. "I'll show you the way."
"Okay?" Frankie answered but it came out as more of a question.
"This is Jasper by the way." Alice chirped as they walked she was highlighting different routes on the map with different colors so that Frankie wouldn't get confused. "You're Bella's cousin aren't you? Bella use to go out with my brother, but not anymore. Hey, look we'll have Calculus together and you'll have European Lit with Jasper and my other brother Emmett and Edward have Spanish with you. Well, here you are."
"Okay?" Frankie said again, feeling sort of confused. "Thanks?"
"No problem, I'll see you later." Alice said, handing the papers back and waving before walking away.
"Is she always like that?" Frankie asked, Jasper who smiled ruefully and nodded.
After getting the slip of paper signed Frankie nervously chose to sit beside Jasper, no one took the seats next to him for some reason. Frankie answered a few questions from the surrounding people but eventually they seemed either disinterested or turned off by the response. When the class began Frankie tried to pay attention but her attention wavered as it had over the past two weeks to Alexei and the sadness that had hovered over her sense Alexei's death seemed to way even heaver but it only lasted a few seconds before an odd calm overcame her that lasted the entire class.
Alice was waiting outside of the doorway when Jasper and Frankie walked out of the classroom and Alice instantly began to talk.
"I was thinking you could eat lunch with me and my family if you'd like, I mean you'd probably want to eat with Bella and her friends so I'd understand just thought I'd offer you, it's always good to be friendly." Alice said happily. "I hope Jasper was nice to you, he can be kind of shy."
"Jasper was very nice." Frankie lied, Jasper hadn't been mean or anything he just hadn't spoken at all but oddly enough Frankie had enjoyed sitting beside him.
Frankie and Alice walked into Calculus and after getting her slip of paper signed she sat down in the back of the room beside Alice, and like Jasper no one seemed to sit by her or speak directly to her. Frankie didn't mind, in fact she was more then okay being ignored Frankie didn't want to make friends she had Bella and that was all that really mattered. Unfortunately Alice seemed more then eager to be friends, she spent every single moment whispering too Frankie who just nodded, which Alice seemed to take as encouragement.
Frankie didn't have anymore classes with Alice or Jasper but she did have the class before lunch with Bella which was nice and Bella was able to introduce Frankie to a few of her friends during lunch but mostly Frankie didn't pay attention. She thought about Alexei and right now they would be sitting on the steps of the Met eating lunch and having fun.
Eventually class was over and Frankie went to her class while Bella went to hers with the promise of meeting at Bella's truck after school. Frankie's last class was Spanish and she remembered Alice saying that Edward and his brother Emmett had that class and there was an odd comfort in at least knowing someone in the class.
After getting the paper signed she walked toward the table that Emmett and Edward where sitting at, it was odd at how beautiful they all looked, it was so unnatural that Frankie shuttered slightly.
"Hello." Edward said his voice smooth and his eyes a very golden intense color that made Frankie a little confused. "I didn't get to introduce myself before, I'm Edward Cullen and this is my brother Emmett."
"I think I know enough about you." Frankie said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"It means, you think you're all that because you're handsome, that you can't take the word 'no' for an answer and follow people around because you can't have them anymore, you the fake polite act is so played and lastly you have your sister go around and fish for information on Bella."
"Alice asked about Bella?" Edward asked, he looked liked confused like hadn't really known she'd talked to me repeatedly.
"No, not exactly." Frankie admitted. "But the intentions where there."
"I didn't ask Alice to speak to you; if she was being talkative that's just Alice." Edward said.
"Okay then." Frankie said with a shrug before the class began.
NOTE: .com/untitled/set?id=14844151 (Frankie's outfit for school).