I didn't cry that night. I promise you, I didn't think about my cat and my real parents or how I would have probably been reading Harry Potter to cheer myself up right now. I listen to the rain patter against the roof in a soothing pattern, and definitely did not cry. I didn't try to breath as little as possible to stifle my sobs, shoving my head into a pillow.
Oh, and Beau definitely didn't come in to check on me with tears dried on his cheeks. We totally didn't share my bed, which I guess isn't weird for twins to do. Are we twins? I don't know.
When I wake up, Beau is gone, and I hear people moving downstairs. I walk to the only bathroom, and lock the door behind me. Even with the circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, and the puffiness of my face from my tears, I'm shocked to see how beautiful my face is- Bella's face is.
It almost feels conceited to think that, but wow is Bella ever pretty. It makes sense why she had two gorgeous yet somewhat awful guys fighting over her now, and why every boy at Forks high school was sprung for her, for lack of better words. Bella Swan is beautiful.
Since I had showered the night before, all I do to get ready is wash my face, and apply mascara. I decide to save the eyeliner for a different day, maybe for when I get used to having such pale skin and long eyelashes. Bella Swan definitely never would have to hear the words false lashes in her life.
All I do is brush my hair, which is straight from my shower. I think I used to have curly hair, so this is a change. No more fighting to make my hair look presentable. I turn to walk out the door, and jump back when someone starts pounding on it.
"Bella, come on!" I recognize Beau's voice, and fling the door open on him. He almost decks me in the face, but I duck out of the way.
"Careful there, slugger," I mutter, side stepping him. "And you guys call me the clumsy one."
Of course, I then proceed to slam my shoulder into the doorframe, and hurriedly make my way to my room to avoid a walk of shame. "We leave in twenty, so I wouldn't take too long, princess."
Honestly, I have no idea where princess even came from, but it seemed like normal sibling banter. Beau glowers at me, though, and slams the door shut harder than necessary. Shit, did I really fuck this up already?
Now for the part I was dreading, looking for something to wear. It takes much longer that it should, but I soon find a blue flannel, black tank top, and the one pair of skinny jeans it seems Bella owns. It also seems that she has a hard time picking out the right sizes for herself, since the tank top rides up enough that some of my midriff shows, and the jeans leave little to imagine. Oh, and the flannel must be Beau's, since it hangs off of me. On the bright side, it covers my ass.
I'll definitely need to do some shopping, or DIY some of Bella's clothes, but for now I hurry down to the kitchen to search for food. I almost trip on the way down, but that's only because of the height difference between Bella and I.
I find nothing suitable, so I wait in the car Charlie bought for Beau and I. It feels unique and homey, and I love the smell of it. I know, that sounds odd, but I slides into the driver's seat, starts the car, and off we go. I knew that the truck was going to be loud- Stephanie Meyer mentioned it almost all the time- but I still almost hit the ceiling when it roars to life. Beau snickers, but the car ride is silent. Anxiety settles into my stomach like a lead ball.
I totally fucked up with Beau.
The rain makes me worry about Beau's driving skills, but he manages just fine. He doesn't even miss the exit to Forks High. I slide my backpack on my back, and notice Beau hasn't moved after parking the car.
"You know I hate you teasing me about it, Bella," He says flatly, clenching the wheel. "I'm still not comfortable with.. It." He sounds mad, but in a defeated way and I feel awful. I don't even know what I did!
"I didn't mean to upset you," I say. "I'm sorry."
The muscles in his jaw clench. "I know. But you still did."
I take his hand in a comforting squeeze. "I know." He smiles weakly at me. "Hey, look at it this way. Forks is a new place, with new people, and we can start new. Let's start with not being late."
Our schedules are similar, and the entire way to the office I feel people staring and whispering about us. I receive more than enough smiles and appreciative glances from the male population of the school, and duck so my hair covers my flaming cheeks. I'm not used to attention, but I find myself enjoying it more than I should.
The red-haired secretary looks all too aware of who we are, and I can tell she's going to gossip about us the minute she gets the chance. Her eyes scan over me with jealousy, and Beau with lust.
Guess us Swan twins are pretty hot.
She goes through our classes with us, informing us of the best routes to get to them, and gives us a slip for each of our teachers to sign.
"We tried to give you as much classes together as possible," She assures us. "We did our best."
"Thanks." Beau says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
We go back out to the truck, and Beau follows the line of traffic. Most of the cars are older than ours, so there wasn't anything too flashy. That is, except for the flashy Volvo sitting in one of the spots.
Oh shit, Edward. He's going to contemplate killing me and all the other students in biology, and no one will see what's happening until it's too late since Alice will be too busy looking out for Jasper to notice. Looks like Midnight Sun comes in handy after all.
I check my schedule, I have biology before lunch. At least I know my death date. I look at Beau's, and see he has biology after lunch. Well, at least he'll be safe.
Beau's door slams, and I realize he's already leaving to first hour without me. I fumble with my buckle, grab my bag off the seat, and hurry after him.
The classroom is small, and for some odd reason there's a long row of hooks to hang jackets on. Most of the students there are pale, so my skin won't stand out too much.
Together, Beau and I take our slips up to the teacher, Mr. Mason. He gawks when he read our names- that's encouraging- and Beau flushes tomato red. He sends us to the back of the class, and I sit next to a boy with gangly limbs and hair as black as an oil slick. I know he's important, but I can't remember his name.
The reading list has almost everything Bella has in her room already- Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer. Falkner. Boring, but at least I have all the books.
When the bell rings, the dark haired boy leans across the aisle to talk to me.I notice he has pretty severe skin problems. I quickly scan the room for Beau, but see that he's already left. Great.
"You're Isabella Swan, right?" He's definitely overly helpful.
"Uh, yeah." I say. I don't know if I want to be called Bella, so I decide to not correct him.
"What's your next class?" He asks.
I quickly look down at my schedule. "Government with Jefferson, building six."
"I can show you the way." He smiles. "I'm Eric."
I smile back at him, and he looks overwhelmed. "Thanks, that'd be lovely."
We head out into, you guessed it, rain, and I regret not bringing a jacket. The people behind us are walking close enough to eavesdrop, but I pay no attention to them.
"So, this is a lot different from Phoenix, huh?" He asks.
"Uh, yeah. You know, the whole difference from sunshine and heat to darkness and rain, yeah, I'd say that's a pretty big difference." I respond, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Ha, yeah, guess it doesn't really rain much there, does it?" Eric laughs.
"Sometimes it gets so bad, we have to do an ancient rain dance just to make it rain."
"Oh, uh, interesting. Must be pretty sunny, then."
"Very."
"You don't look very tan."
"My mother is part albino, actually."
He studies my face apprehensively, and I realize he must not understand sarcasm. Nice, that's going to be fun, since that's my main form of communication.
The rest of the morning passes fast, and too soon it's time for Biology. I contemplate skipping, but decide to grit my teeth and get it over with. In the books, he didn't kill Bella, so hopefully he won't kill me.
I make a mental note not to stand in front of any fans while I'm there, and walk into the room holding my breath.
To my surprise, Edward isn't there. However, I notice one of the other Cullens are there. Knowing that they aren't human, and that they're supposedly perfection, makes them fairly easy to find. This must be Jasper, and holy shit he's gorgeous.
Jasper looks at me with his odd golden eyes, his gaze confused. I look away first, but still feel his eyes on me.
I get paired with Mike Newton, who really is friendly but it hovers into the annoying area. It doesn't help that he's obvious about being into me, which makes me uncomfortable. I'm not used to that sort of thing, and I feel caged the entire time he introduces himself. Slowly, throughout Biology, I feel slightly more comfortable, only enough so that I'm able to speak coherent sentences and pay attention.
I wonder briefly if Jasper has anything to do with that, and I glance at him quickly. He's still staring at me.
Mike walks to the cafeteria with me. "You can sit with me, if you want. My friends won't mind." He says, pointing to the far side of the lunchroom.
"Thanks, but maybe next time. I'm going to sit with my brother." I tell him, and instantly realize he takes that literally.
One of the people Beau is sitting with turns out to be Angela Weber, so I talk to her while Beau talks to a boy named Jeremy. Numerous times, it looks like Beau wants to talk to me, but Jeremy keeps talking and Beau is too polite to interrupt.
Then, I notice the Cullens. I don't bother hiding my stare, and study them intently. Every time I had tried to picture the Cullens, I was blown away by how beautiful they must have been. Of course, I can see now my thoughts were nothing close to the perfection in front of me.
I've never been able to precisely imagine skin as pale and smooth as theirs, hair shiny and glossy and perfectly styled as theirs, even Edward's messy locks. Even sitting still, they look graceful.
Jasper is once again looking at me, and I look away uncomfortably. It is then that Edward looks up, his eyes locking on mine.
"Who're they?" Beau asks Jessica, another girl sitting at our table.
I tune out their conversation, picking at my limp slice of pizza. This doesn't feel right. Or at least, it isn't how I expected. Bella is the one that had always been drawn to Edward, the Cullens in general. I feel no urge towards them, except to run. Yet Beau seems utterly fascinated by them. In fact, everything he's saying sounds familiar. Almost like what Bella had said in the books.
I wonder what that means for me, and for my brother. It worries me, no longer being certain of the path I would take.
accouvion: thank you again for your review! i like your idea of putting beau with leah. it would certainly add drama into it, with the other ideas i have planned for this. no matter what though, leah will have a happy ending, even if she isnt a main character. i love leah so much, shes one of my favorites. she will have love! im glad youre liking this story so far!