12
Bella threw her bag down on the kitchen table. Today had been almost a direct repeat of yesterday, the only major difference was that Charlie wasn't home when she got there. There was, however a message light on the answer phone.
Bella didn't feel comfortable listening to the messages, even though this was now her home, so she left it. She had no idea about Charlie's private life, if he had any, so couldn't even begin to guess who had left it.
She rummaged around in the freezer, trying to find anything that wasn't fish, but eventually gave up. She pulled several large looking fillets out of the ice they were packed in, thankful that Charlie gutted, skinned and filleted most of his catches.
She grabbed some cheese and milk, from the fridge and potatoes and dried parsley from the cupboard and set to making a fisherman's pie. Her timing was superb, the potatoes were just turning golden brown and the cheese on top had melted nicely when she heard the cruiser pull into the side of the house.
Charlie entered and hung his gun belt on the hook inside the door, his jacket hung over it. He moved into the kitchen, sniffing in appreciation.
"That smells wonderful!" he said, smiling.
"Thanks," Bella blushed, still unused to praise.
She dished out their meal, giving Charlie three quarters of the dish, which left her with plenty.
"How was school?" he asked, "I'm sorry I didn't ask yesterday." He shrugged as if to dismiss the problems of yesterday.
"It was fine." She told him.
"Everyone friendly?" he pushed.
"Yeah," she said watching her meal rather than looking him in the eye.
"Hmm," Charlie grunted, "erm, the Cullens are all Ok? I don't know the last name of the blond two."
"Hale." Bella said. What was it with him tonight? He had said more to her in the last two days than in the 15 years previous put together.
"Alice seems nice." He stated. Bella actually looked him in the eye at this. He had met Alice for a full 5 minutes on Sunday. "I feel like I leave you alone too much." He explained, shrugging one shoulder and blushing.
"I'm at school most of the day; I had only been in an hour or so when you came home." She objected.
"I can't imagine Renée ever bothered to look after you much," he said blushing guiltily.
"Then maybe you should have fought for custody." She snapped, she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She put her hand over her mouth in horror at her words.
"I thought being with your mother would be better than being with paid babysitters all hours of the day and night. I don't have regular shifts." Bella felt awful. She had no right taking it out on Charlie, he had done what he thought was best and he HAD provided for her, it was Renée that had taken his money and wasted it.
Bella got to her feet and scraped off her plate. She had eaten less than half but had lost her appetite. She abhorred the waste but really couldn't eat it, and she knew from experience she wouldn't return to it, if she tried it would stick in her throat as she remembered the argument.
Charlie finished off his portion and Bella washed both plates and cutlery as he headed into the living room to watch sport on TV.
"Phil has GONE!" Bella jumped as she heard her mother's strident voice pierce the air. "and my bank accounts have suddenly been frozen! I don't know what he did, Charlie!" Beep.
Father and daughter's eyes met across the ten feet of air. In both their gazes was a lack of surprise that she had turned to them, even though she hadn't even bothered to ring and see if Bella had arrived safely at the weekend.
"Charlie, I don't know if you got my message, I really need help here. I'm stuck in Chicago with no money. Could you send me a few hundred please? I don't know what's happened, Phil just packed his bags yesterday and left." Beep. Bella noted that her mother's voice was slightly more frantic if not so shrill on this message.
"Charlie. I've been arrested! You have to do SOMETHING! Call in a favour or something! I don't know what Phil did but they are saying I stole something!" Beep.
At least if that was her one phone call they shouldn't have any problems from her for a while. Bella felt horrible that she didn't feel more for her mother. But all the things the woman had done had hardened her daughter to feeling much of anything, for anyone.
Bella finished drying the crockery and put it away. She picked up her bag from where it had been put while they ate dinner and headed to her bedroom. Charlie silently watched her go. He had no idea how to help her, but he knew that one thing he was not going to do was rescue Renée. If Phil had been smart enough to get out before the shit hit the fan then at least he wouldn't be dragged down with her.
Bella threw herself onto her bed and wept until she fell to sleep.
Bella briefly contemplated not going to school the next day. She knew the Cullens would know everything and really she didn't need to see the pity in their eyes.
However if she stayed home what would she do? It wasn't like Charlie was a slob, the house was clean and tidy, if a bit shabby. She looked out of her bedroom window hoping that the sun was shining, but grey cloud cover blanketed the skies. Snow had fallen lightly overnight, and though not deep enough to need snow chains she could well imagine that those lowering clouds contained more of the nasty white stuff, just ready to dump on her.
"Bella?" Charlie knocked on her door.
"Yeah?" she replied and he tentatively opened the door a small amount. He was reluctant to barge into her private room, but a parcel had arrived for her and it was marked urgent.
"Here," he pushed the small package towards her. She frowned, she hadn't ordered anything.
She opened the wrapping and was shocked to see the Apple logo on the box. She quickly opened the box and took one look at the phone inside and shut it again.
"Alice!" she hissed. She put the box on the bedside table.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Charlie asked, having missed her actions.
"Nope." Bella replied. "If you don't mind I need to get up and get dressed." He took the hint and rapidly retreated.
Bella went to the bathroom and showered quickly. When she got back to her room the box was open on her bed, the charger plugged in and a note on top.
{i} 'You will NEED this today!' {/i}
She left the phone where it was and went down to have her breakfast, Charlie sat at the table with her, nursing his morning cup of coffee, but he didn't say anything to her. She went up and brushed her teeth afterwards and picked up her school bag. She was just about to leave the house when she had a thought. She looked through her bag and sure enough the phone was there. She pulled it out, ran quickly upstairs and threw it onto her bed.
She was out of the house and driving in her truck in under a minute. She knew Alice was perfectly capable of getting the phone and meeting her with it at school she just hoped that she got the message and left it alone.
She was just about to turn into the car park at school when suddenly she decided she wasn't going after all. She sped past the opening and took the first left, she was 4 or 5 miles down the road when she saw the saloon in her rear view. She put her foot down; the engine protested but crawled up to 55 MPH.
Though they could have caught up and overtaken her at any time they didn't and after another 3 miles her tail disappeared and soon she could see the ocean in the distance. She stopped at the small shop on what could laughingly be called the high street and called Charlie. She told him where she was and he told her he would deal with school if they rang him.
She moved the truck to the car park that during the summer was filled with the vans and trucks of surfers.
She sat for an hour or so shivering as the heat had bled away in seconds. It wasn't worth running the engine and burning gas just to keep warm. She watched the surf crash into the large rocks at the high tide line, she had spent many an overcast summers' day on those rocks, watching the sea life trapped in the pools by the outgoing tide. As soon as a majority of the rocks were out of the water she left the truck and carefully crunched over the pebbled part at the top of the beach to the fascinating pools.
Shrimp and starfish, anemones, whelks and barnacles. She watched seaweed sway like a forest in the wind as a gentle breeze blew across the land from the sea.
"Bella!" Jacob Black pulled up on a motorbike. Charlie, she groaned. He was getting almost as annoying as Alice.
"Hey! Jared said he saw my old truck in the village." Jacob grinned at her and she couldn't help smiling back, she also sent a silent apology to Charlie for thinking he was keeping tabs on her. She was surprised that none of the Cullen's had arrived as yet, even with the kids in school she had thought Alice may bully Esme into keeping an eye on her, maybe Esme had refused? Or maybe they were all keeping inside the trees and watching from a distance?
"So what are you doing?" Jake asked, squatting down on the rock next to her.
"Just thinking." She replied, dribbling a hand full of sand back into the water she had lifted it from.
"Want me to leave?" He looked her in the eye and she could see he meant it. He would leave if she asked him to without making a fuss.
"Naww, it's OK," she said, "but don't you have school?" she asked.
"I have free periods first thing Tuesday and Wednesday," he told her. "I can spare you an hour." He grinned again and she found herself smiling again. He really was very handsome, and with his long dark hair flowing loose down his back he looked stunning. "so, what're you thinking about?" he asked.
"Renée." She said watching him closely.
"Ah!" he picked up a flat stone and tossed it a couple of times in his hand before putting it in his pocket. She shrugged, it was obvious that he knew enough not to push the subject.
"Want to go for a walk?" she asked.
"Sure!" he jumped to his feet and helped her to hers, keeping a hand on her arm at all times… after all he had had to get help for her on more than one occasion during the years.
Once they got onto the beach proper he let go of her, they walked in silence for half a mile or so.
"Your dad says you have a friend in town, a girl you went to school with a few years ago?" he asked.
"Alice." She confirmed.
"Alice?" Jacob frowned.
"Alice Cullen." Jacob stopped dead.
"CULLEN?" he almost shouted. Bella was astonished at his reaction.
"Yes, Alice and I have been friends for years."
"Bella, you can't be friends with THEM!" Jacob put a whole load of disgust into that last word, leaving Bella in no doubt that he knew what they were.
"Jacob, you can't tell me who I can be friends with!" she objected.
"You don't know what they are!" he grabbed her by her arms, his fingers gripping her so tightly she knew she was bruising.
"Jacob, get off me!" she struggled and fell to the floor when he suddenly let go.
A look of shame overcame his features. "God Bella, I'm so sorry!" he offered her his hand to get up but she struggled to her feet without help.
"Forget it." She said sullenly and headed inland, towards the car park she could see in the distance.
"Bella, please. Just listen to me!" Jacob reached for her but at the last second didn't touch her. "You have to believe me, ask any of the tribal elders, The Cullens have been our enemies for decades."
"Enemies? Why?" Bella asked, curious as to what the tribe knew.
"It's an old story," Jacob looked rather ashamed for some reason, "The Cullens first came to Forks years ago, the elders of the tribe realised they were…different,"
"Different?" Bella asked.
Jacob sighed. "The Quileute Elders tell stories, this story goes, that some of our warriors had a special gift, they could turn into wolves, and their only job was to protect the tribe from… others. The Cullens are others; they aren't safe to be around, not for normal humans."
"You're all wrong." Bella told him, "The Cullen's wouldn't hurt anyone."
"Look Bella, I don't think the stories are literally true, I mean people don't really turn into wolves. But the drawings the council have of the Cullens they met back then… most of them are the same as the ones here now. Something just isn't right about that family, even if the tales aren't totally right, there is enough of a reason with what we do know to avoid them, they aren't natural and are dangerous."
She stopped her march, turned to step in front of him and even though he was quite a bit younger than her she had to look up to meet his eyes. "Leave me and the Cullen's alone. I have been friends with Alice since I was eight and for most of my life she has been my only friend. Even if she is…different… I am not going to just dump her because you say so."
"They are dangerous!" Jacob insisted again, Bella sighed; he was like a broken record. Jacob seemed torn between dismissing the tribal histories as wild fairy tales and seeing them as nothing but the literal truth.
"No Jacob, they aren't." She told him, rubbing her arms pointedly where the stiffness was developing that foretold the size of the bruising she was developing. "In fact I can safely say YOU are more of a threat than they are, at least they know their own strength."
"Listen to me! Even if they seem to be good guys Bella, they can't deny their nature forever."
"I don't know, Carlisle has managed for the last three hundred and fifty odd years."
Jacob backed away from her, his face a picture of shock and anger. She could have bitten her tongue off. She almost kicked herself for confirming what the Cullens were.
"No! You can't be wanting to be one of them!" he stood in her path. "I won't let you! I will tell Charlie!"
She turned and walked away from him. "I didn't say I wanted to be anything except their friend." She told him. "and you can tell Charlie whatever you want. He knows I'm friends with Alice and he likes her."
He soon caught up with her but did not attempt to stop her. It was obvious he didn't know what to say. They reached the tarmac surface of the car park and she hurried to her truck.
"You'll be late for school if you don't hurry," she told him getting into the truck.
"Bella…" he raised his hand as if to grab the door handle. She turned the key and the engine started noisily. She slammed it into reverse and left him stood in the empty car park. She had to see Carlisle!
As Bella got to almost the exact spot at which she had lost her tail earlier, Esme stepped out into the road, so happy to see her come out of the reservation unharmed. Bella pushed the breaks with all her might. To say that she hadn't been going very fast to start with it was quite a distance stopping. Esme grimaced, she remembered that type of truck well, it weighed in at something like 3 tons!
She opened the door the second Bella ground to a halt and pulled her into a hug, almost choking the girl with the still fastened seat belt.
"We were so worried!" She pulled back as if to get a good look at her and realised the seat belt was digging into the girl's neck. Bella released the catch and almost fell out of the truck onto the road, only Esme's quick action saved her.
"Why were you worried?" Bella asked.
"We can't go near the reservation." Esme told her, wondering how much she should reveal. Luckily Carlisle would be with them soon and he could take over. Esme didn't want to scare the girl by telling her she had spent the day with volatile werewolves, or people who soon would be.
"Sorry? What do you mean can't?"
"It's a long story, are you Ok?" she looked Bella over once more.
"Sure, I was just a little pissed off at Alice; I needed to think and knew she had to go to school."
"That wouldn't have stopped her, truly Bella, she means well."
"I know, but I'm not used to being controlled. She is suffocating me!" Esme sighed, she understood. Alice had had her own way for too long though. Each of the Cullen's had learnt over time that going against the girl would lead to disaster more often than not. "I'm not trying to be nasty, but I can see why Edward left. It must have been unendurable to have someone come in and re-arrange everything to suit them and realise from reading all of your minds that none of you were going to stand up for him."
Esme suppressed a sob. Bella was right. It wasn't just that Alice had waltzed in one day and had taken over, even moving Edward from his room.
Though it may seem like Edward had left because of an adolescent temper tantrum, Esme had always thought that it wasn't just that, he had had tempers before, but that time he actually left rather than stay and sort it out. It was just that it was too much, seeing another happily mated couple, one of who had taken over in less than a couple of hours… and it was true what Bella said, none of them had protested when Alice had moved Edwards things from his room. Esme knew she was right.
Somehow the family had thought he would be fine with this, being displaced and in a way dismissed. It was no wonder he left! Esme was more convinced than ever that Bella was what the family… and more to the point Edward, needed. She felt mightily ashamed of herself that this young girl had seen through all the points of view to the heart of the problem when the Cullen's had spent years trying to figure out just what was the one thing too far that had tipped Edward over the edge.
What tipped him over was their disloyalty. Esme determined there and then that she would protect Bella from Alice. If Bella didn't want a cell phone, she didn't have to have one. If she didn't want to wear designer clothes then she shouldn't have to. It may have seemed a silly resolution but Alice just wore you down until you gave in. Esme determined not to allow the girl free rein with Bella.
Esme loved all of her children but she felt keenly that she had let her eldest child down by not stopping Alice when she arrived. Would it have hurt for her to ASK Edward for that room? All this time they had thought that the breaking of the last ties to his human life was the main problem and now she believed it was the breaking of the hard won bonds of his new family that was the cause.
"I need to see Carlisle, is he at work?" Bella's voice broke into her musings.
"Actually he finished about 3 minutes ago; he should be here any second." Esme told her, trying to stop her mind going in circles over the revelation Bella had given her.
The low purr of an expensive engine intruded on the almost silent air. Carlisle drew it to a smooth halt, inches from her truck and jumped out. He flashed to her side so quickly that Bella could not have seen him move.
"Are you Ok?" he asked. Bella frowned in puzzlement. They would have to fill her in, their actions were just too strange.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I think… I KNOW I've screwed up." Esme watched as she looked around, the road was empty except for their two vehicles but the trees came right to the roadside on both sides.
"What happened?" Carlisle asked, "Don't worry, there's no one close who can hear what you say."
Bella recounted her conversation with Jacob and blushed violently as she admitted to letting Carlisle's age slip. "I don't know what to do. I mean I sort of trust Jake, but I don't know him all that well. What if he tells someone?" her breathing grew shallow as she panicked about the trouble she could have brought on the family.
"Here," Carlisle said, handing her his phone. "Ring Charlie and let him know you've decided to spend the rest of the day with us, we'll go back to our house and I'll tell you why it doesn't matter."
She held the phone up helplessly.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Esme asked.
"I don't know the number." She admitted.
"It's on the contact's list, under police." Carlisle reached over and pressed a few buttons, Bella spoke briefly to her father and then she followed the others' car to their house.
By the time she entered the room, Esme had put a plate of sandwiches and a glass of milk onto a tray for her. She watched, pleased, as the girl ate it ravenously. She perched on the arm of the chair her husband occupied and watched her as he filled her in. Hopefully it wouldn't be too traumatic for the girl.