14
She went straight home after school finished and changed her clothes; Charlie had insisted that they eat at the diner on Fridays as a sort of tradition. She decided not to object, and met him there at four.
Outside in the parking lot she could see a gang of the kids from school. They weren't doing anything in particular, just sitting around in cars playing their music a bit loud.
"Are you going out tonight?" Charlie asked, cutting into an inch thick steak.
"I wasn't going to," she wondered where this was heading.
"Bella, it's Friday night! Haven't you planned anything with the kids from school?"
"Well, what is there to do in Forks on a Friday?" she asked. "There isn't a cinema, clubbing is out," she smiled as her father opened his mouth to object and when he saw she was kidding shut it again without saying a word. "what else is there?"
"The others tend to find ways to keep out of trouble." He told her.
"You think I'll get into trouble?" she asked him, slightly offended.
"No! No, that's not what I mean," he said grimacing as he tried to explain. "I just think you need to get out with friends more." He told her.
"Well, Alice did say I could go around tonight," she told him, he smiled.
"Why not invite her to our house." He offered. Bella cringed at the thought of Alice actually going through her wardrobe and seeing how few clothes there were.
"What?" Charlie had noticed the grimace.
"It's not just Alice." She told him. "There's Rose, and Jasper and Emmett."
"Jasper and Emmett?" he asked suspiciously.
"Alice and Rose's boyfriends," she told him, he frowned, "Alice and Emmett are brother and sister and Jasper is Rose's twin."
"Oh, wow, didn't realise that." He said. "Emmett is the linebacker?" he asked, Bella smiled at the thought of Emmett playing football. She nodded.
"Yeah, I can see how the room may seem a little small with all you lot in,"
"Plus they will want to bring the XBox and use the flatscreen to play games." Charlie looked at her in horror. A house full of teens and no TV?
"Make sure you are back by eleven." He instructed, they rose from the table and Charlie went to the counter to pay the bill. Bella smiled at his retreat and made her way out to her truck.
Unfortunately Lauren had recognised it, because as she approached the girl got out of the back of the car nearest and headed towards her.
"OY BITCH!" she shouted. Bella sighed and turned to face her antagonist.
"What do you want Lauren?" she asked tiredly.
"Jessica told me you tried to invite Tyler to the dance at lunch." Bella sighed.
"Jessica needs to get her facts straight then." She told her.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Jessica appeared behind her, oh great tag-teaming.
"Yes actually I am." Bella backed up slightly allowing both girls to stand together and making a rear assault impossible. Lauren rushed her and suddenly found her face planted in the side of Bella's truck. Jessica had hesitated and after seeing Bella's sidestep and slam she decided that rushing her may not be such a good idea after all.
Lauren got to her feet, blood dripping from her nose.
"You assaulted me!" she shouted, trying to draw attention from the diner, she succeeded but unfortunately for her the attention she drew was Charlie.
"What's going on here?" He asked as he hitched his gun on his hip. "Why did you attack Bella?" he asked before Lauren could even open her mouth to complain.
"I never did!" she stuttered. "She attacked me! Ask anyone!" she turned but suddenly all the other kids seemed to remember things they had to do elsewhere and those that didn't drive off walked away.
"Make sure next time to not attack when you are on CCTV," he pointed to the cameras on the side of the diner watching the car park, "and that a law enforcement officer isn't witnessing it." He frowned at the girl. "Now I'll ask again, why did you try and attack Bella?"
"She's trying to steal my boyfriend!" she accused; Charlie looked at Bella who scoffed silently.
"I very much doubt that, who is your boyfriend anyway?" he asked. Lauren looked around, Tyler was stood at the side of the diner trying to stay out of sight but still see everything. She pointed. Charlie crooked a finger at him and he shuffled over reluctantly.
"What's been happening?" he asked. Tyler looked at his shoes until Charlie once more hitched his gun belt.
"Nothing." He said sullenly, Charlie glared at him and Lauren kicked his shin. "I asked Bella to ask me to the Spring Dance," he told the Chief. Lauren almost screamed with rage at his confession, "She said she didn't want to go, but I asked again," he looked down at his shoes as he put the last nail in his coffin, "a couple of times."
"Hmmm." Charlie grinned at Bella who rolled her eyes back at him. He grimaced at Lauren and she glared back defiantly, trying to wipe the blood still pouring down her face.
"You should get your facts straight in future; I'll be having words with both your parents." Charlie stepped closer to the girl and pushed her head back by touching her forehead, blood still ran freely out of her nose. "If that doesn't stop in an hour I'd go to the doctor's, it may be broken. You really don't want it to start setting crooked." He told her. Her eyes widened in horror, Bella almost laughed out loud at the thought of Lauren sporting a crooked nose. "Now get home, both of you, I don't want to see either of you out again tonight, unless you need the hospital."
They walked off, Lauren trying to hit Tyler every few steps of the way, and pausing to grab a fresh tissue to soak up the blood. Charlie chuckled but then sobered and turned back to his daughter.
"You didn't say you had any trouble at school." He complained.
"Nothing I can't handle." She told him.
"Still…" he started.
"Leave it Charlie." She insisted, he gritted his teeth at the name but dropped the subject reluctantly. "I'm off to the Cullen's now." She told him, he nodded sadly and watched as she got into her truck and drove away.
Bella was met at the turning on the road by Alice, it was a good job really, she doubted she would have been able to find the driveway without her help, especially as dusk was falling.
Twilight, she loved this time of day, the harshness of the weather always softened and peace seemed to descend.
Alice climbed into the cab of the truck, but one look at Bella's face stopped her from speaking. They rode in silence until the Cullen mansion appeared out of the foliage.
"I wish we could have been there for you." Alice said as the house appeared at the end of the drive.
"One of these days you are going to have to tell me why you can't go out in direct sunlight, I mean I know you don't turn into a pile of dust or anything, you DO go out during the day."
Sounds of laughter came from inside the house and Bella smiled when she saw Emmett dive out of the front door and appear at the side of her truck.
"You have to promise not to faint when you see me in the sun!" he told her, "I look fabulous!"
"You look camp!" Rose said, slapping the back of his head as she followed him outside.
"It doesn't hurt you, does it?" Bella asked worried.
They all laughed again. "No," Alice explained, "When the venom changes our bodies, the outer shell, skin if you will, turns sort of like silicon rock."
"Oh do you glitter?" she asked sarcastically, her jaw dropped as all of them nodded simultaneously. "You're kidding me!" she said, laughing slightly at the thought of a glittering Emmett.
"Scouts honour!" Emmett said doing the scout salute with the wrong hand. Bella laughed loudly. The bad mood she had been in evaporated.
"So, what game are you playing tonight?" she asked, Rose and Alice linked arms with her and they went inside.
"Jasper is busy at the moment," Emmett pouted, "you want to challenge me?"
Bella laughed again, "No chance!" she said. Suddenly the huge TV screen stuck on the wall came to life, a rather grainy picture appeared, Bella blushed as she worked out what it was. She saw herself walk across the car park and Lauren confront her. When Lauren's nose hit the side panel of her truck the two boys jumped up and gave each other a high five before turning to her with their hands held high. Bella blushed and winced as she saw Jasper falter a little. He rallied and grabbed hold of her and swung her around.
"Jasper!" she gasped.
"It's Ok, Carlisle had words with everyone and they are all well fed. I can manage!" he smiled hugely at her. She smiled back; glad she could help him for once instead of torturing him. "look at what I found on the internet!" he gestured proudly at the TV. "Bet you didn't know they had it hooked up to the police station, took me seconds to hack into the signal and copy it. I think it may just go viral, if not worldwide then definitely all around Forks."
After watching the 'fight' for once or twice (ten) more times, Bella managed to persuade them to turn it off and they went back to playing video games.
She went up to Alice and Jasper's bedroom with the girls and Esme soon joined them. They did each other's hair and painted nails, both hands and feet, except Bella who just could not stand the thought of someone touching her feet. And she listened as they spoke about the men in their lives. She heard a bit of wistfulness in Esme as she paused from time to time, as if she wanted to say something about the missing Edward, but it would bring her down too much to mention him out loud.
One week, if all went well, and Bella really hoped it would, she did owe the Cullen's for their friendship over the years, Edward would be back with his family in one week and Bella could make up her mind what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. The confrontation with Lauren in the car park had decided her. She wasn't staying in Forks any longer than she had to. She would look up the University of Washington's syllabus when she got home, she didn't want to be too far from Charlie when she went to College, but she just didn't want to stay there, even if she did the rules about attending school meant she had to move even if she just wanted to go to the local community college.
Alice suddenly stopped pulling at her hair, in the mirror she could see her, her eyes wide open and unblinking as she stared at something that wasn't there. Esme and Rose watched her closely until she shook off whatever it was and continued with the torture of 'teasing' Bella's hair.
"What?" Alice asked, her voice innocent as she looked at the two other vampires in the room. Bella thought she detected a shake of her head and a slight smile, but they were so quick she couldn't be sure. Whatever had happened Rose and Esme let it drop and the beauty treatment continued.
Charlie was noticeable by his absence over the weekend, on Saturday he went fishing with Billy and Harry over on the Res. He had offered to take her onto the Res. and she could stay with Jacob (his sisters were no longer living with the tribe, one was at school and the other married!) but she said she had preferred to stay with the Cullens.
She actually spent the day scrubbing the house, washing clothes, and shopping in the afternoon. Charlie hadn't been happy when he returned but realised that it was what she was used to doing and so he knew he would upset her more if he argued with her. He explained carefully that he had a routine and that he had never been left wanting clean clothes, and the house was never a really untidy.
Bella realised that she had upset him somehow, though she didn't understand exactly why he was upset that she had cleaned. She had been bored. Never had she had so much time on her hands and though she was shocked to realise it she could only spend so much time reading before she got twitchy and needed to do something.
On Sunday he insisted that he drive her to the Cullen house as he left to go to his friends to fish once again.
She spent the day once more being dressed, primped and pulled about by Alice and Rose, only rescued by Esme at lunch when she volunteered to 'help' in the kitchen. She didn't see why Esme should suffer the terrible chore of cooking something for her to eat when she was perfectly capable of cooking herself. She was astonished at the amount of food in the Cullen's kitchen and Esme explained that she visited a shelter in north Seattle each week and made a donation of food.
It would look too suspicious if a family their size never bought any food. If they had lived near to a large town or city it would be easier because everyone would think they shopped somewhere else, but in Forks there was only the one large store for groceries, so Esme and one of the 'children' went shopping each week, and each week she donated the food to the homeless shelter.
Bella returned home at 6, her father virtually followed her into the house. Neither of them mentioned Renée.
Monday morning Lauren arrived at school looking like a panda. No amount of make-up could cover the bruising around her eyes and the swelling of her nose. To begin with she tried to tell the students who had not been witness to the altercation that she had been in a car accident and the damage was caused by the air-bag going off, until Mike Newton let slip (in a crowded hallway of listeners) that every single pupil had received a postcard with a URL to a YouTube video over the weekend. Of course, the video was the CCTV images and the laughter that roared through the school humiliated the injured girl even more than the bust nose had.
Lauren sent Bella several 'death glares' through the day all of which Bella ignored. The Cullen's also ignored the girl… well Emmett tried to ignore her but he really couldn't help himself.
They were in the cafeteria, all the Cullen's were sat already at the table as Bella made her way towards them with her packed lunch. Lauren moved to stick her foot out when Emmett's voice drowned out the other children, "I wonder if she's trying to trip Bella? You'd think she had learnt her lesson, someone film it for YouTube! If she's that stupid we may get a full series out of it. Hey Lauren! What happened to your nose?"
Bella side stepped the protruding appendage as laughter rang out. Lauren got to her feet and stomped out of the room.
Bella was blushing when she got to the table and sat down. Jasper frowned and quietened the others with his gift.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Just leave her alone." Bella was feeling guilty for the girl's embarrassment.
"But…" Emmett stopped when he felt his wife's hand hit the back of his head.
"Please." Bella asked. The Cullen's swapped glances and agreed, they wouldn't stop looking out for her but they would stop making a public spectacle of Lauren if that was what Bella wanted.
The rest of the day went quietly for Bella. It was now to be less than a week before Edward would travel close enough to Forks for the family to see him. Alice hadn't given her any details except that they would have to be at a certain clearing in the forest and playing baseball. Bella had no idea how her presence would pull the prodigal son back into the family but she trusted that Alice would not have worked for so long on something that wouldn't come to pass at the last minute.
She had tried on Sunday to get details out of her friend, but Alice sidestepped the queries by either shrugging or saying 'it's not clear yet'. Bella dropped it, it was obvious that Alice was hiding something, and maybe it was for the best? Maybe if Bella knew she would act differently? Maybe it could cause the meeting the family had waited so long for not to happen?
However it appeared in Alice's visions, Bella just hoped that it would come to pass. By Wednesday she was so bored with the lessons that she felt like gnawing her own foot off to stop the tedium. Only the Cullen's presence in the class made it anything like bearable, what would she do if the weather was fine for any significant amount of time and they left her there to suffer the repetitious education on her own?
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and very cold. Bella got dressed in the baseball outfit Alice had given her and, much to Charlie's poorly hidden amusement, tripped on her way to her truck.
She reached the Cullen house at 10 to find that everyone was waiting for her.
"Bella, come on!" Alice was positively glowing, the sparkles on her skin shone brightly in the sunlight. Bella looked at the rest of the family.
"Beautiful," she breathed.
"I told you I was stunning!" Emmett said, causing everyone to laugh loudly as he spun on his heel like a model at the end of a catwalk.
She scrambled out of the truck and took the cold hand Alice offered.
"Do you mind?" she asked as her fingers traced the bright spots on the back of her friend's hand.
"Of course not!" Alice laughed, at that second the sun went behind a cloud and the spell was broken. Bella blushed, "you see now why we can't go to school?" she nodded; yes they would stand out rather a lot.
"We have to leave soon!" Alice bounced on her toes.
"Ok, am I taking my truck or…" Bella gestured to the garage.
"Oh, no, we are running." The Cullen's laughed at what must have been a look of abject horror Bella's face.
"Running?" she gasped.
"WE are running, you will be carried." Alice specified.
"Carried?" if anything she looked even more mortified!
"You just can't get there in a vehicle; it's too deep in the forest. Don't worry I won't drop you." Alice said.
"You aren't carrying me!" Bella backed away, Alice frowned.
"Why not?" she asked.
"I'm taller than you, I'll…" she blushed as she realised that no matter her height Alice could easily carry her. She remembered Rose lifting her truck wheel off the ground without any strain at all.
"I'll carry her." Emmett grabbed Bella up into a bear hug.
"Put her down." Esme gently took hold of Bella's hand, "climb on my back dear, don't worry."
Reluctantly Bella climbed onto Esme's back, the second she was settled the family flashed into motion. So fast they ran that the trees surrounding them blurred into a green haze. Bella had never suffered from motion sickness before but suddenly she had every sympathy for those who did. The cold, almost arctic, wind wasn't dulled at all by the heavy forest they ran through and her cheeks burnt with the cold. Even though she had gloves on she could feel her fingers slowly going numb with the cold, and her eyes dried out as the biting wind stole any moisture they produced.
"Close your eyes." Carlisle advised as he ran easily at his wife's side. Bella did as she was told and the nausea receded somewhat, but it did nothing to stop the penetrating cold.
When they reached the clearing Bella's muscles wouldn't release and it took both Rose and Alice to free their mother from her grip. Bella sank to the ground and felt like kissing it. She vowed that no matter how long it would take she would be getting home on her own two feet. Violent shivers eventually warmed her body and she took in her surroundings.
"How far are we from Forks?" she asked as she looked around the huge clearing and the now overcast, but dry, sky above.
"About forty miles by road, twenty as we travel." Ok then her walking home wasn't on the cards. Bella sighed and made her way over to the home plate where Rose and Jasper were competing to see who would bat first. The girls won and Jasper made his way to the pitcher's mound to start.
"I'll just sit back here…" Bella headed towards a cut off tree stump to one side of the plate.
"You're the referee!" Alice told her, dragging her behind Carlisle, who was catcher. "Only home runs count," she explained the Cullen variation on the rules, "there are no foul balls, if they miss, they strike."
Bella felt sorry for Emmett, he was expected to field the whole place himself? The bases that had been marked out were at least a hundred yards apart, meaning the whole field was about four times the size of a normal one, and just one person was going to field it? She was happy to note that Esme jogged out towards the right field and Emmett took left.
"It's time!" Alice called; a rumble of dry thunder filled the skies.
Rose stepped up to the plate, Jasper pitched and she slammed the ball so hard with the bat that the sound echoed around the field and surrounding forest, shaking birds from their roosts for miles.
Emmett disappeared into the trees after the ball, Rose ran around the bases so fast that she blurred to Bella's sight. Suddenly Carlisle jumped and grabbed the ball from midair and he was waiting as Rose slid to the plate.
"Out." Bella said, wincing as Rose glared. She got to her feet and dusted off her leggings.
"I hate sliding!" she said, hugging Bella to show no hard feelings. "I always get dirty." Bella couldn't help but laugh, Rose, who spent most of her time off school in the garage was worried about a bit of dust?
"Alice!" Rose threw the discarded bat to her sister and retired to the outfield and Esme came back to wait for her turn.
Alice slammed the ball just as hard as Rose had, but Emmett made a leap of gigantic proportions and caught it midair.
"Out!" Bella gasped; astonished that he could jump so high.
"I knew he was going to do that." Alice grumbled and everyone laughed at her.
Esme came to the plate and when she hit it, the ball soared high, too high for even Emmett to jump. She made it around the bases easily and the girls cheered. She hugged Bella tightly before heading back to the plate. She wasn't so lucky on her second hit though and was run out when Rose, diving for the ball, caught it up and returned it to Carlisle before Esme even rounded third. Rose's opinion on the dirty ground echoed through the clearing, causing more hilarity in the family.
The boys headed in. Carlisle fielded as Jasper took the plate and Emmett stood ready. Alice wound up to pitch as Esme took backstop. The ball travelled to the bat so fast it broke the sound barrier and Jasper hit it so hard the aluminium bat bent. He threw it to the ground and ran around. He was just rounding third when a shout rang out.
"STOP!" Alice suddenly called. The Cullen's immediately ran to home plate and surrounded Bella. She had an uneasy feeling about their actions, if it was what they expected… Edward… then why were they protecting her? Surely Alice had said that he was still living the vegetarian life?
"Edward?" Bella asked, looking around, expecting the wayward son to appear at any second.
"No. Nomads." Alice told her. Bella shrank back, the Cullens had only touched on the subject of human killing vampires a little, but she didn't like the idea of being near to any of them.
Out of the trees a couple walked. The woman had bright red hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in a decade, and the man had dirty blond hair tied back in a pony tail. Both were beautiful of course, but it was a cold beauty. Like a mannequin or waxworks, too perfect. Little things like blinking and shifting their weight on their feet were missing, making an unnatural aura spread around them. Bella again realised there was even more to pretending to be human than she had ever considered.
The couple regarded the family for almost a full minute before saying anything.
The woman held up the baseball; "I believe this is yours?" she asked in a strange little-girl pitched voice.
Carlisle stepped out from the family and nodded. "Yes, thank you." She flicked her wrist and the ball suddenly appeared in Carlisle's hand.
"We didn't know the territory was claimed." She told him, her eyes passed over each of the family, assessing and seemingly not impressed by what she could see.
"Yes well, now you know." Carlisle was rather abrupt. "We would rather you didn't hunt in the area, we don't need to raise suspicions."
"We are heading north; we will soon get out of your way." The woman sneered. "Though it isn't as if we would take any of your food." It was obvious she had realised that they were vegetarians.
"That isn't the point." Carlisle said.
Bella felt eyes on her and looked at the male. The man was concentrating on her with an intensity she had never seen before. She was rather unnerved by the fact that he hadn't spoken as yet. He nudged the woman and her attention switched to Bella too. For some reason she actually showed an expression, surprise.
"Oh, you brought us a snack?" she said. Evidently she had confused Vegetarian with weak.
The Cullens formed a tight wall between Bella and the Nomads, when suddenly a blur passed between the two groups and like magic there was yet another vampire there!