Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
A/N: Did I ever mention how amazing you guys are? Your reviews make me smile so much! The only reason I'm posting this chapter so soon is 'cause I love your reviews. Yes, I love reviews more than the cow loves the moon. They make me so happy!
IMPORTANT: wait!! I explained to a couple of people that Bella was starting her senior year. But I had to change that because we all want Emmet to still be there, right? And he's a year older, so to clear things up: Bella- Grade 11 , Edward- Grade 11, Emmet- Grade 12 . That's fairly simple, right?
Chapter Seven- Bella's POV (age… lets go with seventeen)
I pulled out my CD player and covered my ears with the headphones. Pressing play, I let my head fall back onto the seat. I slowly relaxed each of my muscles individually as the soft notes flooded my mind. My lullaby was the only that could help me calm down at times like this.
I wasn't ready for this, but I had been putting off the flight back to Forks for weeks now. Phil was leaving on September thirtieth, and it was now the twenty-first. I wasn't bothered by the fact that I would be starting school in the middle of a semester, I didn't mind working a little harder to catch up, but I knew that I shouldn't have waited so long before leaving. It would have been easier, had I just started at the beginning of the year, but I was a coward.
I had used the excuse that I wanted to spend my birthday in Phoenix with Renee, but I couldn't postpone the trip any longer. It was stupid of me to wait.
Gossip in Forks spread like wildfire and, unless Edward lived under a rock, he would have certainly heard that I was coming back. Everyone would know. I truly was a coward.
And yet, here I was on the plane to Forks.
I wasn't sure how much I liked the word back anymore.
-- Later That Day, Back At the House Again --
"Do you remember Billy Black?" Charlie suddenly asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Should I?" I asked, confused.
"No, I guess not. I used to fish with him on Saturdays, when you were out." He explained, still looking out the windshield.
"Oh," was my ingenious response.
"Well, he's in a wheelchair now so he doesn't need his truck anymore. He sold it to me cheap." He said, refusing to look at me.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that, Dad. I hope it didn't cost too much." The last thing I wanted was for him to have spent some of his retirement money one me.
"No, it was fine." He mumbled.
I looked straight at him.
"Thank you," I said earnestly.
He muttered something about it being nothing, but I was touched.
As we pulled into the driveway, I noticed a large orange truck pulled up to the side of the road. It was… different. At least it would be better than riding in the police cruiser.
I stepped out into the cold air and breathed in deeply. The house still looked the same, some of the trees in the yard were taller, but nothing had really changed.
Charlie left me alone to unpack, for which I was grateful. I didn't know if I would be able to hold back he tears.
-- Tomorrow Morning, SCHOOL!! (yay!) --
I woke up before the alarm set off. My nerves always got me up on time, if not sooner. I climbed out from underneath the covers and grimaced at the rain drops pelting my window. Charlie's cruiser was no where to be seen, so I assumed he had left for work already.
After showering, I pulled on a light brown sweater. I tended to dress according to my emotions and I was definitely feeling brown today. I kept my hair down, ready to use it as a shield to hide behind in my classes today.
As I checked myself in the mirror, I noticed a small necklace hanging off the corner of the frame. After deciding that I would probably feel better with it on, I clasped the thin chain around my neck and tucked it under the fabric of my sweater. I didn't need everyone in school thinking I still wore plastic jewelry.
I made it downstairs safely and stepped into the kitchen to see how badly Charlie needed to go shopping. After a thorough search through the cupboards, I found that I needed to go shopping sometime soon. I poured myself some cereal and sat down at the small table.
I picked at the Cornflakes, but I couldn't eat it. My stomach was fluttering with anticipation and I kept playing with my collar. My foot tapped an unsteady beat while I watched the clock over the oven tick away.
After a few minutes, I decided it was time to leave for school. I stood up and pulled on my coat, though the rain had slowed to a soft drizzle.
When I pulled my prehistoric truck into the high school parking lot, I was one of the first students there.
I trudged out to a building with a large sign labeling it as the office. Inside, there were some fake plants with brightly coloured flowers decorating them. There was a small desk with a red-haired woman sitting behind it.
She looked up at me. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Isabella Sawn." I informed her.
By the way her eyes lit up with realization, I assumed that I was, in fact, a topic of gossip.
"Oh, yes, that's right," she began to search through some papers around her desk.
After a few minutes of explanations, she handed me a sheet to be signed by each of my teachers. She pointed me in the direction of my first class and sent me off.
The misty rain clung to my hair and I hurried to get into the classroom. There were already students crowding the sidewalks so I followed a group of girls into building 3, my first class.
There wasn't much to say about the room other than it was small and dark. I stepped up to the teacher's desk and handed him my slip. He introduced himself as Mr. Mason and sent me to sit at the back. I kept quiet but people kept looking over their shoulders at me and whispering about 'the chief's daughter'.
The rest of my morning classes went by in the same way. I had a government class where I met an eager boy named Eric. He asked me about Phoenix, but I only offered monosyllable answers. He walked me to my Trigonometry where I was forced to introduce myself to the whole class.
When I was finally able to escape to the cafeteria, I wasn't sure where to go. I pulled out the small map that the woman from the office had given me and stopped to examine it.
As I stood there, I heard large footsteps coming up behind me. Suddenly, my arms were crunched to my sides in a bone-crushing hug and an all too familiar voice boomed out in my ear.
"Bella!" laughed Emmet, releasing me.
I looked up at him. He was huge! He was muscled like a serious weight lifter and his dark curly hair was dripping from the rain. He towered over me 5'4 easily, and could practically step on me.
I realized I was gawking and looked back up at his face. He was beaming at me.
I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him as tight as I could. I bit my lip to keep the tears from coming.
"Emmet," I breathed, as he gently pulled me back.
"You know, you're probably one of the first people to actually return one of my hugs." He laughed.
"I'm sorry," I blushed tomato red, realized that there were a few people who had stopped to watch the new girl tackle Emmet Cullen.
"We have to talk," he started, looking at me with an expression I couldn't read. I knew we would have to, but I wasn't ready yet.
"But I'm supposed to go meet Rose outside the gym right now," he explained, grabbing my bag off the ground and leading me over to a large building.
I was safe… for now.
"I heard some rumors, you know, that you were coming back. They're all over. But in calculus this morning, some kid was talking about you and I came searching. Now look at you! All grown up and the topic of gossip all over Forks. You're bigger than I am," he joked.
"Hold on a second. Are you trying to tell me that the Emmet Cullen is taking calculus?" I laughed, nudging him in the ribs.
He didn't answer, instead he waved over a tall, blond girl. As she came closer, I saw that she wasn't just tall and blond, she was gorgeous. She walked –more like strutted – over to us and gave me a skeptical look.
"Who is this?" she asked in a clear, strong voice.
"That new kid." He chuckled, nudging me back.
The girl and I both rolled our eyes.
"I'm Rosalie Hale, Emmet's girlfriend." She introduced, giving me a small wave.
"Hi, I'm Bella Swan." I said softly, hiding behind my hair.
She was extremely intimidating and looked very protective over Emmet. When I mentioned my name, she looked like she understood something.
"Oh, your Charlie's daughter. He lives next to Emmet, right?" she asked, twirling her finger through her hair. I would have seen that action as something that made her seem like a 'dumb blond', but something about her look very intelligent.
"Yeah, that's me." I mumbled, looking down.
"Anyways, we should get going. I'm starved." She announced, taking Emmet's hand and leading us away.
When we got inside, they strode right over to a table with a couple already there. I followed behind, hidden behind Emmet's massive shadow.
"Hey," they greeted Rose as she sat down. Emmet sat beside her, leaving me standing awkwardly beside the table.
"Oh, Bella, this is Rose's brother, Jasper," Emmet indicated the tall boy, who shared all of the major characteristics as Rosalie. He looked up at the mention of his name and nodded at me before turning back to his book.
"And this is his girlfriend-"
"I'm Alice!" the girl cut him off, standing up and pulling me down beside her.
She had cropped black hair that stuck out in every direction. She was shorter than me, but looked a lot tougher. She stood confidently, smiling eagerly at me.
"You're Isabella Swan?" she asked in a high voice.
"Bella," I corrected.
"Okay, Bella, welcome to Forks! Or, welcome back, I should say,"
She asked me questions about Phoenix for a while, about the sun and how different it is from Forks. She chattered about all the things the school here had to offer and all about the best shopping locations in the area. She even informed me of the different dances coming up, all in the span of twenty minutes.
Eventually, Jasper distracted her and I was left to sit and worry about Edward.
I couldn't find him anywhere in the room, and I knew that his bright hair wouldn't be hard to miss. My hand went to my collar yet again and I began to fumble with the heart trough the material.
"He's not here today," Emmet explained in a low voice, leaning closer to me and giving me that look again.
I nodded and looked down at the table.
Why not?
A/N: Soo… it's been like two whole chapters without Edward… But you got Emmet! And Alice and Jasper are here xD Again, you guys rock my socks! By the way, I wanted to thank you again, TwilightxoEclipse, for the name. It, too, rocks my socks. Thanks!