Thank you Rinda for editing this for me, I bow at your feet and kiss the ground you walk on for figuring out my uploading nightmare. Posting will be so much easier now! You are a goddess. Thank you!
No I am not Stephenie Meyer, could never be confused with her and could never hope to be as brilliant as she so no these characters do not belong to me, well except Lenai but after five days of labor I think I get to claim her. LOL I hope you enjoy, and if you do please leave me some love!
Girl time
The sun warms my face waking me from the sweetest dreams. No aroma of coffee greats me this morning so I figure Gran must still be in bed. Going to my closet I choose a pair of stylish blue jeans, two tank tops to layer, and my pink converse sneakers. I am so relieved Dad sent the two boxes of stuff I will need for the summer so quickly. Gathering my clothes together I head to the bathroom to get ready for my day. Taking the time to blow dry my hair I style it into a simple messy pony tail loop with my one curl dangling down the right side.
I creep quietly down the hallway peaking in Gran's room to see her sleeping soundly. "I love you." She speaks quietly as I stand at her door. Talking in her sleep again I smile, wondering who she is dreaming of. Her tone of voice is not one she would use for family, but as far as I know Gran has never been interested in anyone romantically. Well except for that kid Mike told me about but surely Granny would not still be dreaming about a boy from forty-five years ago. Looks like I have a new mystery to figure out.
In the kitchen I fix a pot of coffee and scramble enough eggs for both Gran and I. Slicing a grapefruit in half and setting the halves on our plates. Gran walks sleepily through the entry as I place the plates on the table. "Good morning Gran, coffee is in the pot. Did you sleep well?"
"I did, thank you. Oh Lenai this coffee is wonderful." She sighs as she takes a sip and closes her eyes.
Joining me at the table she starts eating her breakfast immediately. "You are going into Seattle today?" She asks "Who did you say you are going with?"
"A new girl in town named Alice. She came into the office to get registration papers for next year. She helped me clean up the office when the wind coming through the door blew papers everywhere. There is no way I could have done all the work that got done yesterday by myself. Alice said she would pick me up here at nine." I smile remembering how excited Alice had been when I told her I could go. "She desperately wants a friend to shop with since her sister is out of town for a couple more months."
"That's sweet; I hope you girls have fun today. Take your cell phone and if you are going to be late please call. I have to go into the office and stay while the painters finish up in the gym. I hope to be home around mid day." Gran has always let me know her daily plans; she knows I worry about her if I don't know where she is.
"I'm going to go play for a while in the field before Alice gets here." I give Gran a kiss on the cheek and walk away to get my violin.
Granny waves from the porch as I am walking out to the field. "See you tonight Lenai. Be safe, and have fun." Climbing into her car she heads down the drive out of sight.
I lift my violin to my chin and begin to play. The music quickly swells around me and carries me away to my place where the world ceases to exist. I know I have played for quite a while when the pain in my fingers telsl me it's time to put the violin away. The world reappears around me as I take the violin away from my shoulder. Alice is sitting on the grass in front of me arms wrapped around her knees, wonder in her beautiful eyes. "Hi" I say surprised by her presence. "How long have you been here?"
"A couple of hours" she laughs sounding like wind chimes. "I didn't want to interrupt you. Your music is unbelievable. I have never heard anything more beautiful! Those are original pieces aren't they?"
A faint blush of embarrassment rushes to my cheeks as I lower my eyes to my shoes. "Yes they are. I like to play my own music mostly, but I do know many other pieces. Do you have a favorite?"
"I love Flight of the Bumblebee!" She screams "Can you play it for me, PLEASE!"
That figures it fits her perfectly. I can just picture her flying around the meadow from flower to flower never tiring. I can't help smiling at the mental picture. "Of course I can, but you may need to grab my arm when the piece finishes or you may be stuck here for another two hours." Lifting my violin once more I begin to play just for her. As the music surrounds us Alice begins dancing. I am so enthralled watching Alice enjoy my playing that at the end of the song I have no problem stopping. "That was gorgeous Alice! Where did you learn to dance like that?" Her dancing had not fit into any category of dance I have ever heard of.
"I was just dancing, nothing to it. I bet you can dance beautifully too the way you seem to feel the music." She smiles back at me. "Speaking of feeling the music that was amazing! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
Alice turns and heads toward the house. "Let's get going. I have lots of shopping to do!" she says with a delighted giggle.
"Where's your car?" I ask noticing for the first time that the driveway is empty.
"I left it up the drive a little, you said your Gran doesn't like people who drive fast, and I didn't think she would feel comfortable with me driving if she saw my car." She replies skipping up the drive merrily.
My jaw hits the ground when I see her climb into a super cute yellow sports car. "WOW, this is your car!" I climb in and stare at the leather interior and upgraded stereo system. I have never sat in a car this nice before. I suddenly think about the little bit of mud that might be clinging to my shoes from our walk through the meadow. I quickly pick up my feet and glance at the bottom, relieved to see they're clean. I reach behind me to lay my violin on the floor boards and smile over at Alice. "So how fast can this thing go?" I asked mischievously, I do not share Gran's fear of speed.
"Do you want to see?" She laughs obviously happy that I like to go fast.
"Oh yeah." Driving slowly to the house we use the turn around and head back toward the 101.
Alice flies down the 101 at about 90 mph with music blaring, the bass vibrating through my spine. This is fabulous. I have never felt so free in my life. As we approach town her speed drops to about 20 miles over the speed limit, which I find funny because surely a cop would be more likely to pull over a car they can catch than one going so fast they could hardly see it. Alice seems to think it makes perfect sense though and I'm not going to say anything about it. Approaching the town limits her speed increases dramatically as we sail down the highway at 140 mph. I can not believe how well she controls the car at this speed. A new song starts playing on the radio and her speed increases yet again. I began to fear if we hit a bump we will go airborne and never come down. When the speedometer needle reaches 180 I can no longer restrain my tongue. "Alice, this is a little fast for me, could we slow it back down just a little please. I'm getting scared."
"Sure not a problem, how fast do you want to go?" She asks giving me an apologetic look.
"140 was fun, I can't believe you actually drive this fast! We are going to be there in no time!"
"If you think I drive fast you should see my sister and brother. They are maniacs behind the wheel." She laughs as she hits the menu button on her IPod to choose a slower song. "We're about five minutes from Seattle. Where do you want to go shopping? I want to get your errands done before I get started or we may get sidetracked."
"I need to go to Vlandin's Strings Shop. Other than that the things I need can be found at the mall."
We arrive at Vlandin's within fifteen minutes. The inside of the store looks like a hurricane has hit. Obviously Vlandin's is not known as the place to go in Seattle because of its organization. A small male voice speaks up as the tinkling of bells announces our arrival. "Be with you in just a moment."
An elderly man not much taller than Alice and I steps out from behind a tower of cardboard boxes. His hair reminds me of Albert Einstein's but his eyes are captivating. You could see the exuberance radiating from them. "How can I help you lovely young ladies today?" He walks behind the sales counter and rests his elbows gingerly on the edge.
"I have been having some trouble with my fine tuners slipping, I was hoping you might be able to fix the problem. I also need two complete sets of strings, a cube of resin, and I would like to look at your 3/4 size bows please." I hope he would be able to look over my violin today. I am nervous about leaving it anywhere, but the fine tuners have been slipping a lot lately. I have never had any trouble with the violin before and I am hoping this can be rectified quickly.
"Set it up here and I will take a look at it." He tells me as he reaches for a small tool set and a magnifying glass on a metal stand that has a light attached to shine on the object under inspection. I place my violin gently on the counter and watch as he turns the fine tuners making small noises to himself as he works. His resemblance to Einstein is strangely reassuring. "This should not be too difficult. The threads are simply wearing out. This instrument gets played quite a bit doesn't it? It is a beautifully made violin. Have you ever noticed the signature inside the body?" He does not wait for me to answer. "I have only seen one other instrument made by him; I hope you realize how rare this is and take special care of it."
"It is my prized possession sir. I am sure you can appreciate how concerned I am to leave it anywhere."
"Yes, I fully understand you concern. I should be able to have this finished for you before three this afternoon. Would you like me to change out your strings with one of the new sets while I am working on it?" He asks before talking to himself under his breath about what needs to be done and we hear him mutter again, "absolutely splendid, amazing to see."
"I think I will stick with the strings that are there unless you find damage and feel they need to be changed out. I am pretty adept at changing them myself. I just wanted to have extra sets on hand; you never know when you may need them."
"Good, good, I will do that for you then." He reaches below the counter and grabs four different bow boxes laying them on the counter for my inspection.
The first box contains a typical student bow, these are great for young kids learning how to play but you simply can not get good sound out of them on more complex pieces. I replace the lid and move onto the second one. It is nicer but still is not quite what I am looking for. I know what I want is a new bow exactly like my old bow, and unless I plan on making a flight to Germany sometime soon I doubt I will get that wish granted. I replace the lid and open both the other boxes. Neither of these are close to the quality I am looking for either. My bow will just have to last a bit longer. The last time I had the horsehair replaced the lady working on it had noticed a hairline crack forming from the base and warned me it would need to be replaced soon. Five months later I can now see the crack with my naked eye and it's starting to increase in length. I really need another bow now, but I just can not make myself say yes to one of these. With a sigh I hand the boxes back to the clerk who stops working on my violin to look up at me, a question in his eye. "Sorry none of these are what I am really looking for. Do you possibly know of another store that may have higher quality bows? I still need a 3/4 size but I don't want a student bow." I hope that does not offend him.
His face lifts a little with a knowing smile. He reaches under the counter behind him and unlocks a sliding drawer. "I think this may be what you are looking for. It is the only one left in the country, the designer died three years ago. I believe there are only four left the other three are in Europe." He places the black satin box on top of his counter, opening the hinged lid, and lifts a black cloth that was draped over the bow. I gasp as I realize the signature on the bow matches the signature inside my violin; it is the exact twin of my bow.
From the look on his face he knew that is exactly what I was looking for. "How much is this?" I am sure it is too much, but I cross my fingers in hope.
"You know the true value of this bow, the dollar amount attached to it is 550.00." I feel as if I have been hit in the stomach. I was expecting it to be to high for me to afford but I had hoped by some miracle maybe I would be able to get it.
"I'm afraid that is just to much for me right now. Do you accept deposits to hold merchandise?" I know I'm grasping at straws, but maybe if he would accept a deposit on it, I could make payments for the next four months till I paid it off. I'm sure Alice would not mind driving me back here in four months to pick it up. I almost cry when I realize that would not work anyway, I will not be here in four months I will be back in Chicago with my dad.
"I am sorry dear; I just do not have the system set up to keep track of such business." He looks genuinely saddened, "In three years you are only the second person I have shown it too though. I think it will still be here when you are ready." He smiles and winks at me.
Feeling completely let down I thank him sincerely for showing me the bow and confirm a three o clock pick up time for my violin. Alice and I turn to leave the store.
"Sorry about that" Alice says as we climb into her car. "I guess that must be a pretty special bow. I think he is going to hold onto it for a while for you though. He doesn't seem to want to sell it to just anyone. I bet it will still be here when you are ready for it."
She really was right, he did basically tell me it should still be there, and it did seem me he wants it to be paired with my violin. Maybe I could still get it. "Thanks Alice, I just got so excited when I saw it, and mine is breaking so I know I don't have long before I have to buy something to replace it. I'm not going to be here when I have enough money for it though; I forgot momentarily that I have to go back to Chicago before school starts."
Alice seems shocked by this information. Her mouth has dropped slightly and she has a far away look in her eyes which have darkened slightly the gold deepening somehow. "I didn't realize you were leaving, I just" it seems she was choosing her words carefully, "assumed you lived here."
"No, I visit Granny Bell every summer, but I have to go back to my dad's house before the school year starts there, which is two weeks before Forks. I really wish I did not have to go back. I love my dad, but I just feel so at home and comfortable here. I don't really like big cities."
Alice seems to be lost in her own thoughts again for a moment, concentrating deeply on something. "It'll all work out." She states as if it were fact and returns to her bubbly self. "Off to the mall!"
Alice is great to watch at the mall, she bounces from store to store like the little metal ball in a pinball machine. Her face lights up like an excited child's every time she sees something she likes for either herself or me.
Alice's laughter chimes through every store as she fills my arms with clothes for both of us to try on. "I am so glad we're the same size that makes shopping so much more fun!"
She has great taste; I am tempted to buy one outfit she chose. The medium blue form fitted blouse and tailor fit deep brown slacks look very sophisticated. Sophisticated is a word that could not be used to describe much in my wardrobe, except of course the beautiful gown U of S had given me for my performance. The price tags remind me I need to save for my bow though, so I place them back on the rack. Alice is having a great time trying on everything in sight that appeals to her. She also has fun buying several of the outfits she tries on.
I have four bags draped over my arms from different stores, and Alice is loaded down as well as we enter Barnes and Noble. I want to find a few cds of what I call easy music. Easy music is music I can listen to without becoming lost in it. I also have to make sure I know what artists are popular so not everyone will think I am an orchestra geek. Not that it really helps, but I like to listen to popular music sometimes. After listening to about twenty different CD samples I decide on the new release album by some boy band all the girls at school had been drooling over last month. On my way to the cashier I see Alice looking in the classic rock section. There is music dating all the way back to the turn of the century. I smile as I realize this is what Granny Bell had listened to. I pick up a CD with interesting cover art and scan it to hear what it sounds like.
"This is really good." I am honestly surprised. I hold the CD out for Alice to see.
"I love Muse, you have to get it! We'll listen to it in the car on our way home." Alice seems really happy with my choice so I put it under my arm with the other CD I am purchasing. Glancing at my watch I realize we really should be going if we want to be back at Vlandins' by three. I do not want to leave my violin there any longer than absolutely necessary.
I lift an earphone of Alice's and yell over the blaring music poring out of it. "We need to get going Alice"
We pay for our Cds and head for the car. Ten minutes later we are pulling into the parking lot of Vlandin's. "If you just want to hang out in the car I can run in and pay quickly. It will only take a couple of minutes." I don't think she would want to hang out in the cramped messy music store again.
"Nah, I'll come in with you." Alice replies as she climbs out of the car shutting the door behind her and setting the alarm. "Vlandin's is a sweet store; it reminds me of what a store would have been like a long time ago."
"Hello again ladies. I have the violin completely repaired, would you like to play it a little to make sure it's just right?" I can tell by the tone of his voice he is really hoping I will say yes. I know that he would have already tested it out after completing his work.
"Sure, thank you." I take my violin from his aged hand and place it to my shoulder. "Any special requests?"
"Play one of your own Lenai! I promise I will wake you up when it is over." She teases. I am glad she did not ask for Flight of the Bumblebee again, dancing in here could cause an avalanche.
"You have composed some music of your own?" The store clerk asks rhetorically, "I would love to hear a piece."
I lift my bow, close my eyes and breath deeply focusing only on the weight of the bow in my hand. I slowly draw the bow across the strings. As the song progresses I open my eyes so as to not become lost in the music. The notes still caress my skin gently, and I can almost see the flow of music around the room. Being able to see Alice and the store clerk though keeps my mind from traveling with my music making it possible to stop with the end of the song instead of transitioning into another.
Alice is bouncing up and down clapping, and the store clerk has tears in his eyes as I finish and place my violin back in the case. I loosen the bow and place it in the case as well. "Thank you, I'm sure I will have no more problems with it."
"Thank you for sharing that beautiful piece of music with me; you have truly blessed my day." He moves over to the antique cash register to ring up my purchases. I pay him and look over the receipt he hands me.
"I'm sorry there appears to be a mistake. You did not charge me labor for fixing my violin." I am glad I caught that while we were still here, I would have felt terribly guilty if I had left without paying fully for the work that was done.
"Consider my labor paid for in song my dear." He smiles at me bowing his head slightly, "You played more beautifully than anyone I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. Make sure you come back when you are ready for your new bow."
Alice giggles as we walk out the door towards her car. "I think the old man is a little sweet on you." I hit her arm lightly, surprised by how much it hurts my hand to do so. Hitting her arm is like hitting a tree branch, man she must be really strong. "Seriously" she continues, "I think you playing for him made his day. That bow is definitely yours."
"I hope your right. I really would love to have it. I just hope no one else comes in before I can save up the money for it."
"Believe me you have nothing to worry about; I have great instincts about things like this." Alice reassures me with a smile. For some reason I can not bring myself to doubt her, she seems completely sure that what she said is the absolute truth.
My stomach growls as we pull away from the Vlandin's. "You need to eat something." Alice informs me. I laugh at her tone of voice.
"Thanks mom, I would have never figured that one out." She laughs at my sarcasm and heads toward a fast food drive thru. "I haven't noticed you snacking on anything today either" I remind her.
"Is this okay for you? I am just going to get a drink; I don't like to eat while I drive. It slows me down to much, and I hate getting crumbs in my car."
"Yah this is fine. Hey Alice," I pause not sure if I should ask or not, she seems to be in a bit of a hurry to get heading back to Forks. I am enjoying our time together so much I'm not ready for it to end yet. I have never enjoyed the company of anyone other than Gran as much as I am enjoying my time with Alice. "You in a hurry to get home or would you like to hit a movie?"
"Oh I love movies! There is a new romantic comedy out I wanted to go see with my sister, but since she will not be back until it is out of theaters I thought I was going to miss it. Let's go."
I order a grilled cheese sandwich and fries at the drive thru; Alice forgot to order anything to drink. We head off quickly toward the theater. "You forgot to get a drink, you want to share mine?"
"Nah, thanks though, I will just get one at the theater." she replies. I hope she doesn't think I'm weird offering to share my drink. I know how some people freak out a bit about germs; she just doesn't seem like it would be a big deal to her.
The movie Alice wants to see does not start for another hour, but the theater is located in the middle of a nice strip mall. We bought our tickets and wander through the stores. "OOH they have a Star-bucks! Can we go in?" She asks all excited.
"Sure, I could use a little caffeine myself. I love their Caramel macchiato. Let me treat this time since you insisted on paying for the movie tickets even though it was my idea." I feel bad about Alice spending her money on me, I feel like she is doing it because she knows I need to save money for the bow.
"Oh I don't actually like to drink anything they make; I just LOVE the smell of coffee." She is so quirky, of course in a really fun and enchanting way. She has kept me laughing at her antics all day. She asks for a taster size cup of their strongest brew and sits inhaling it as I drink my macchiato.
"So, tell me all about your school" she demands. "I want to know everything about you! Boyfriends, best friends, worst enemies, favorite teachers EVERYTHING!"
"That won't take long. I have never had a boyfriend, my only friend at school moved to Nebraska in December, when I am not doing homework I spend most of my time playing music." She does not appear very happy with this brief summary.
"What do you mean you have never had a boyfriend?"
"Honestly no one has ever shown any interest in me." My face flushes as I admit this to my new friend who obviously has never had any problems in that department.
"So tell me about this friend who moved. Details darling details. What did you like to do together, what does she look like, why do you like her? All of it."
"Her name is Emilie. I met her in orchestra; she plays the cello beautifully. Emilie is as intense in her music as I am in mine. We were selected to play a duet for the spring performance, and neither of us were satisfied with the twenty minutes a week we were allotted in class to practice. She started coming over every day after school to practice. After we had our song mastered we started composing songs together." Alice rolls her eyes slightly letting me know she wants more when I try to draw my explanation to a close. "When we were not playing music we talked about some of the boys we thought were cute; of course they didn't acknowledge our existence. We also watched a lot of old black and white movies. She has a major crush on Humphrey Bogart. We had a sleep over almost every Friday night. I really have missed her greatly" I finish. Hoping Alice is satisfied because there is nothing else to tell.
"What about you?" It's my turn for questions. Other than the fact that she has four siblings and she has just moved to town I know nothing about her. Obviously by her car and shopping habits her family is well off but that means nothing to me; I want to know more about her. "Tell me about your family. How are there five kids all in high school at the same time? Why did you move to Forks? What is it like having so many siblings? Do you all get along?"
"Wow, that's a lot of questions. What is this the Spanish Inquisition?" Alice's wind chime laugh fills the room. A few other patrons look to see who the beautiful laughter belongs to. She inhales her coffee again and looks like she is thinking carefully about her answers. I can tell she is trying to decide what to leave out and what to tell me. Obviously there is a lot to tell. I sit back waiting for her story.
"We are all adopted. My parents just turned 30. My dad is a doctor, and has recently accepted a position at University Medical Center here in Seattle. He did not want us living in the city though, so they looked for houses in the smaller towns. Even though it is a long drive my mom fell in love with our house; Dad has never been able to tell her no to anything." She laughs, "If you think I drive fast you should see my dad! The commute is no problem for him. Okay so that answers two of your questions. Do we get along; I guess we get along a lot better than most people would expect for so many teenagers in the same house. My brothers can get on each others nerves at times but nothing too serious. We all like to pull jokes on each other so if your around very often you are bound to be the target of someone's prank. Over all I wouldn't trade my family for anything. We love to go hiking and camping together; in fact we do almost everything together. I'm missing them severely right now. I had to help Mom get the house set up though, and when Dad first starts a new position he is gone most of the time for the first couple of months." Alice glances at her watch and leaps out of her chair grabbing my hand. "We need to get to the theater! The trailers are starting; I love to watch what is coming soon."
We run out of the coffee shop and over to the theater hand in hand laughing like little girls. We do not have time to stop by the concession stand to get snacks or drinks. Alice must be dying of thirst by now. I am amazed she is not shaky yet from not eating all day; it has been eight hours since she arrived at my house.
The movie is great! Whenever a emotionally charged part plays Alice lets out a squeal and grabs my hand squeezing gently and smiling at me. Walking out of the theater I feel like true love is waiting for me right around the corner. A movie has never made me feel that way before, I wonder if Alice's excited squeals and knowing looks while she squeezed my hand have anything to do with it. I can not help but look for the silver lining when I'm around her; anything seems possible with this little bundle of positive energy at my side.
The sky is black as we walk out of the theater. I realize how late it must be. "I need to call my Granny Bell; she is going to be worried sick. I told her we should be back by dinner."
"Since it's so late and we still have to drive back to Forks why don't you ask if it is okay to spend the night at my house. I have not had a sleep-over in years!"
"That sounds great! Are you sure your parents won't mind" I ask.
"No they let us do what we want for the most part; besides they are going to love you!"
I reach for my phone and call Gran. "Hey Gran, we just finished watching a movie in Seattle and are getting ready to head back to Forks. I'm sorry I didn't call earlier; I didn't realize how late it was getting." Granny Bell reassures me she's not worried telling me she will see me when I get home, and to drive safe. "Actually Granny I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I spent the night at Alice's house. She says her parents won't mind." Gran reminds me that tomorrow is Sunday and asks if I want her to pick me up at Alice's house in the morning so I could go to church. "Oh, that's right. Hold on a sec."
I remember I need to speak to the children's pastor at Fork Christian Church about VBS. "Alice, do you think you would be able to give me a ride to church in the morning?"
"Sure if you are awake! I may keep you up all night though" she added with a wicked gleam in her eye. Tonight should be fun!
"Granny Bell?" It sounds like she has hung up or gotten disconnected, "Alice says she can give me a ride."
"Okay then, Lenai." Granny seems concerned, and I don't want her to worry about us.
"Granny are you okay? You sound worried."
"No no dear, your friend's voice just reminded me of someone for a moment" Granny assures me. "Have fun tonight. Will you be home for lunch tomorrow?"
"Yah, I will come home right after church. We will probably go to the 11:00 service."
"Okay, goodnight Lenai, I love you."
"I love you too Gran." I hang up the phone and smile at Alice. "So you are going to keep me up all night huh?"
Alice laughs as we speed away toward Forks. "Most definitely!"