The week was dragging by at a ridiculously slow rate. I went to school, came home, did homework, cooked for Charlie, read, and went to bed. Life was monotonous, and it was at times like these that I especially missed Phoenix. I didn't have many friends there, in fact, I hadn't talked to any of them since I moved to Forks. But, there was always something to do. Any other Thursday night, I could have gone to the dollar theater and wasted a couple hours watching some lame movie or browsed the shelves of the library by my house. But in Forks-silence. Life was boring here. Maybe that was why the kids at school wouldn't leave Edward Cullen alone.
True to his word, Edward hadn't returned to the cafeteria at lunch since that fateful day. I never saw him in the halls either, not that I intentionally looked. The only time I laid eyes on him was in Biology.
Feeling nostalgic and missing my Mom, I picked up my phone to call her.
She answered on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mom."
"Bella? Is that you?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, Mom. It's your other daughter."
She laughed. "I'm sorry, you just sound so different! I'm glad you decided to give your old mom a call. I thought you forgot about me."
"Mom," I whined. "It's only been a week, seriously. Besides, the phone works both ways, you can make calls as well as answer them."
"Oh, I know. I've just been so busy lately! Phil is doing great here in Jacksonville. It's starting to look more permanent, and we've started looking for a house to buy, just in case."
"Wow, Mom. That sounds great. I'm really happy for you and Phil."
Phil was my mothers new husband. He was in his late twenties. My mom, Renee, was thirty-six. He was also my reason for moving to Forks. He played minor league baseball and was going on the road. Having a teenager didnt let you just pack up and travel across the country, seeing as how I needed to go to school. So I came to Forks, allowing my mom to focus on her new marriage.
"Actually, Bella…there's something I want to tell you," my mom said, sounding nervous.
"Okay, let's hear it," I replied, bracing myself for what she was about to say.
"I'm pregnant."
I froze.
"Bella? Honey? Can you hear me?" My mothers frantic voice rang out.
"Um...yeah, Mom. I'm here. Pregnant? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, honey. I'm sure. Twelve weeks. I've had the first ultrasound and everything."
Wow. A baby. Did my mom understand what that meant? I knew how to pay the bills by twelve. Could she handle a baby? "I..I don't know what to say. I mean…congrats, Mom."
"Thank you, baby. I'm sorry we didn't tell you right away, I wanted to make sure everything was okay with the pregnancy first. Phil is just so excited, he can't wait until we can find out the sex. The houses we've been looking at have been three bedrooms. You'll get your own room, and so will the baby. You'll love Jacksonville. It's nice and warm here. The palm trees…"
I cut her off. "Wait, what? I'm not going to Jacksonville, Mom."
"What are you talking about, Bella? Of course you'll come to Jacksonville."
"I like Forks," I half-lied. "I have friends here, and it's my junior year, and Charlie's here."
She sighed. "Bella, Charlie's a grown man, he can take care of himself. You made new friends in Forks, you'll do the same in Jacksonville, you'll be a big sister. Phil and I miss you so much."
"Mom, I need to think about this. But honestly, I don't want to move," I said, trying to sound firm.
"Fine. But don't take too long to decide, the next five months will go by before you know it."
My mom and I hung up, each promising to call the other soon.
I had a million questions swimming through my mind. My mom was pregnant. With a baby. I hope that Phil makes sure she gets to all her appointments and takes her prenatal vitamins and lays off the wine with dinner.
Another part of me didn't know how to feel about this. Here my mom was with Phil, an entire country separated us and she was having a baby. They'd be their own family and by moving there, I felt like I would be intruding on their new life together. And Charlie, he's never really gotten over my mom. He took the news of the wedding hard, but he's happy if she's happy. But will he be happy to hear she's having a kid? There were too many questions running through my mind. I heard the phone ringing downstairs and Charlie's gruff voice answering it. I knew it was Renee calling, telling him the good news. I turned off my lamp and crawled into bed, willing sleep to come quickly.
Today, like every day, by the time I got to biology, Edward was already sitting down at our table, squinting as he tried to see the board.
"What happened to you glasses?" I asked, I'd never seen him without them.
"They…broke this morning," he said, squinting harder.
More than likely Mike or one of his cronies broke them for him. The rest of the period, I pushed my notebook as close to Edward as possible without looking conspicuous. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him peering over and copying my notes from the board.
Edward was pretty shut off. We barely even mumbled hello's to each other at the beginning of class. I just felt so bad for him and I knew the last thing he would want is for someone to pity him, but seriously. He needed someone on his side in this place. We finished our lab a few minutes before class ended, so I decided to brave trying to strike up some small talk.
"Hey, so what are you doing this weekend?" I asked. Then I mentally scolded myself. I hope he didn't think I was asking to make plans with him.
"What? Oh, um this weekend…" He got cut off by the sound of the bell. Without finishing his sentence, he dashed like a bat out of hell from the room.
I made Charlie meatloaf, green beans and mashed potatoes for dinner that night, knowing that it was his favorite and that he knew about Renee's news. I wanted to soften him up and let him know I didn't plan on leaving. In typical Charlie fashion, that morning when I came down for breakfast he had already left for work, avoiding any possible awkward confrontation.
The dinner was plated and on the table when Charlie stepped in the door.
"Hey, Bells, this looks great," Charlie said, sitting down.
"Thanks, Dad."
We ate in silence, until I couldn't stand it.
"Dad, I'm not leaving Forks. I just said I'd think about it to appease Mom," I admitted.
"Now, Bella. I don't want you staying here just because you feel sorry for me. I completely understand if you want to go to Jacksonville."
"No, that's not it at all. I want to stay here. I don't want to pack everything up and say goodbye again to everyone. Especially when I only have a year and a half left of high school."
He sighed. "Well, Bells. Whatever you want to do, you'll do it. You're just like your mother in that respect."
And that was the end of that conversation.
0-0
Edward was gone Monday. He was also gone Tuesday. It was Wednesday now and Renee had emailed me the previous night, informing me that she would call me at nine my time. I was not so anxiously waiting by my phone.
When the phone rang, I jumped. Renee was all too eager and happy sounding, saying that the pregnancy was going good, she was taking her vitamins, Phil had already started talking to her belly. The conversation quickly turned to house hunting and bedrooms that I would 'absolutely die for.'
The guilt over this was beginning to gnaw at me. I had been so sure before that I was going to stay here in Forks. But then I got to thinking, who would watch my sibling when my mom went back to work? I'd always been content being an only child, but now that I was going to be a big sister, I wasn't sure I could miss out on all the major milestones.
I told my mom that I was still considering her offer, which this time I actually meant.
0-0
While my life had been turned upside down, or maybe just on its side, things for Rose hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows either. She had been a royal bitch the past couple weeks, starting with her little outburst at Lauren last Monday morning. It only took a couple shots of Jager at an impromptu intervention Tuesday night for Rose to open up the floodgates.
Apparently she was feeling neglected by Emmett and thought that he might be cheating. I didn't really think that this was the case because I had seen first-hand how pussy whipped Emmett was, but Rosalie wouldn't listen to reason. She completely trashed her bedroom, throwing and breaking shit, ignoring Emmett's phone calls and crying. I'd never seen her like this before. Jessica mumbled something under her breath that sounded like 'we should have her committed,' which caused Rosalie to go further into a bitch fit because she apparently had an aunt in Seattle with dissociative identity disorder who had to live in an assisted living place.
Wednesday at lunch, I had left the cafeteria to go freshen up in the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom, there was a very short girl with spiky black hair rummaging through her purse in front of the mirror. I didn't think she was a student because I'd never seen her before. Of course I don't go around paying close attention to everyone, either.
She turned around when she saw me in the reflection. "Hi! Do you have any aspirin or Motrin? My head is killing me."
"Nope, sorry. Against school policy or something to carry it," I shrugged apologetically.
"Drats. That's okay, maybe some caffeine might help. Ohh, maybe you can help! I'm looking for someone here. Her names Rosalie? Rosalie Hale."
"Yeah, I know Rose. She's my friend. Why?"
She looked excited. "I'm Alice. My brother is Emmett, Rosalie's boyfriend? Apparently there's been some big misunderstanding and he's worried about her but he can't get out of school and work to come here, so I volunteered."
"Oh, okay. I'm Bella. Rosalie's actually in the cafeteria, she has a free period right after lunch, so she'll probably stay in there."
Alice shocked the hell out of me and jumped forward to hug me. "Oh, Bella! Thank you so much!"
She ran out of the bathroom before I could say anything else.
0-0
Thursday at lunch, Rosalie's mood had made a complete one-eighty. Apparently, Alice had a big talk with Rose about Emmett and all was forgiven. Emmett was just really stressed about school and he hadn't meant to be distant and make Rose feel bad or suspicious. Everyone was happy now and Rose, Alice and I had plans to go to dinner on Saturday night.
0-0
Dinner Saturday night at the Forks Diner wasn't as awkward as I anticipated. Alice was actually the same age and grade as us, but she never attended Forks High. Instead she went to some special arts school in Seattle and lived in an apartment with her brother, much to Emmett's chagrin.
When the conversation steered to talk of Emmett and his friend Jasper, Alice's face lit up. Apparently, it was widely known between Emmett and his friends that Alice was head-over-heels in love with Jasper. Unfortunately, Jasper didn't see her as more than his best friends little sister.
"I'm making progress with Jasper, I swear!" Alice exclaimed, frustrated over Rose's suggestions that she move on.
"Alice, honey. There's plenty of other fish in the sea."
"Hmph. On Monday, Jasper came over to get Em and he told me he liked my outfit!"
Rose just shook her head, placating her with "Wow, maybe he is coming around."
I was thankful that I didn't have to deal with the whole boy-girl relationships. No guy at school gave me so much as a second glance. Except for the wrong reason.
I deflected any talk about me, since I hadn't confided to anyone about my mothers pregnancy, not wanting to face any awkward questions and answers about her age, my feelings on it and my plans. Luckily, Rose and Alice seemed perfectly content with conversation about themselves and trivial matters like reality television.
0-0
Edward Cullen was at school Monday morning. I knew this because I saw him in the parking lot, getting out of the drivers seat of a black Volvo. An expensive, shiny looking black Volvo. It must be new.
"Ah, Miss Swan. Can I see you for a minute please?" Mr. Banner asked me as soon as I stepped into biology.
"Sure, Mr. Banner."
"Your lab partner, Edward was out all last week and as you know we covered a lot of material. I'd appreciate it if you could share your notes and other work with him that we did last week to help him catch up. Of course, you'll have to do it on your own time, maybe the library at lunch or after school. I've already talked to Edward about it and he said okay.
Edward said he's spend time outside of class with me?
"Of course, Mr. Banner. I'll be glad to help him," I said, trying to keep the eagerness out of my voice.
I went to the back of the room and sat down next to Edward.
"Hi," I greeted, turning to face him. "I guess we have to plan to meet this week so you can catch up on everything."
"Um yeah, thanks." Edward said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Geez. It was like pulling teeth with this guy. At least he got a new pair of glasses while he was gone.
"So since you already go to the library during lunch, how about we just get one of those studying rooms and I'll meet you there during lunch?" I asked.
"Sounds good. I'll get there early, usually my gym class ends a little early."
"Okay," I smiled. "Sounds like a plan.
Well, hello, everybody. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know and leave a review! Reviews get teasers!