The wind whipped through my hair as I flew down the highway on my bike. The highway that would eventually lead me to the start of my brand new life, and while I was ending my life in Arizona I would be beginning a whole new one in Forks, Washington. My mother, Renee, kicked me out of the house after I came out to her; she screamed and tried to hit me. As if it would "knock the gay out of me". Thankfully my father, Charlie, welcomed me with open arms not caring about my sexual orientation. So I'm coming to live with my Father in dreary Forks for the remainder of my high school years.
I pull up to the house that I lived in every past summer, and as I throw my leg over my bike I hear the front door slam shut and the sound of feet slapping against the concrete. I'd barely gotten all the way off of my bike when a warm body crashed into mine and arms wrap tightly around me. I breathe in the familiar and much missed smell of my father's after shave and cologne.
Charlie sighs deeply before saying, "Bells I've missed you. And I'm so sorry for how your mom treated you. I just want you to know that I'll always love you no matter what"
"Even if I become a serial killer?" I chuckle, and soon we are just standing there laughing in each other's arms. This is the safest I've felt in a very long time, wrapped in my father's arms.
"Let's get you inside and settled. I added a couple things to your room, I hope you don't mind." Charlie blushes and stumbles over the words a bit. I can't help but smile in my mind, there's the Charlie I know, the one who blushes so often and can barely give me a hug without making it awkward.
Walking into my old room stirs up a lot of old memories, the rocking chair in the corner where Charlie used to read to me, the patch of burnt carpet from when my best friend, Leah, tried smoking a cigarette and had almost caught my room on fire. So many things about this place that I hadn't even realized I missed. The clearing of a throat behind me brought me out of my thoughts.
"So, I'll just let you get settled then. Uhhhh…you wanna go to the diner tonight?"
"Sure, but you won't be surviving on t.v. dinners and steak from the diner while I'm here."
Charlie turned and left me, all the while mumbling about how he was perfectly capable of making food for himself before I showed up. I was thankful I didn't have to cook tonight and even more thankful that Charlie wasn't one of those parents who hovered around their children. I don't think I could handle many questions right now.
It was a Saturday night and surprisingly the diner was almost empty, now being the only diner in town this was a rare occurrence. Charlie ordered his usual steak and potatoes while I had a garden salad.
"So, I signed you up for Forks high. You start on Monday"
"Great," I replied sarcastically. Today was Saturday and I was starting school in two days, not to mention that I would be starting in the middle of the school year.
"Hey, I'm sure you'll be fine Bell's, they'll love ya'."
The next day was spent buying school supplies and trying to convince Charlie that I would be fine at school. Although I don't who I was trying to convince more, me or him, it may not have seemed like it but I was extremely nervous.
That night I had the weirdest dream where I was running through the forest panicked. I was yelling something but I couldn't hear what I was saying. At one point I caught a glimpse of blond hair before a large gray wolf ran out of the foliage and chased down the blond.
Monday, I woke up at 5 a.m., not because that's how long it takes me to get ready but because I just could not sleep because of my dream. I stared at my ceiling for god knows how long until I finally got up and started getting ready. I took a long shower, just sitting under the spray of hot water until it got to be too hot. In the mornings I don't have to do anything with my hair, it just dries and comes out all nice, like in some kind of hair commercial. I dressed in a plain white t-shirt with my grey hoodie and black leather jacket over it and a pair of jeans. Going down the stairs I almost tripped, and I'm glad that Charlie had already left for work or he would've laughed.
I quickly ate a bowl of cereal and checked my email, and soon I was out the door. I walked up to my baby, a 2013 Ducati 1199 panigale and slipped on my helmet before taking off down the road. Being on my bike always makes me feel free, like nothing can touch me. And that's how I felt driving into the parking lot of Forks high, my confidence highly boosted even as I received stares from all around.
Might as well give them something to look at I thought.
As I stepped off my bike I shook my now dry hair out of the helmet, in the most clichéd way possible, and pulled it to the right side so some of the students could just barely glimpse the tattoo on the back of my neck. It was the roman numerals for 2010, the year my grandmother died. I also have a tribal hummingbird on my shoulder to the right of the roman numerals.
I ignored the stares I got as I made my way to the front office to get my schedule, and I made a point of looking straight forward. Despite my attempt at appearing unapproachable a boy my age with acne and greasy hair stepped in front of me and offered his hand.
"I'm Eric, your Isabella chief Swan's daughter, right?"
"Yeah..." I replied as I was distracted by a sudden flash of blond hair just like in my dream except this time it was rounding a corner. "I got to go and get my schedule, see you later." I practically ran the rest of the way towards the office. Once inside I had to catch my breath before I walked up to the receptionist, a middle-aged lady who was reading some kind of trashy novel. I had to stifle a laugh at how she blushed when I cleared my throat to get her attention.
"Hello Ma'am I'm Bella Swan, I'm here for my schedule." She seemed taken aback with my politeness and fumbled around a bit while searching for my schedule. When she finally handed it to me I gave her my best smile and smirked when she blushed bright red.
My first class of the day was pre-calculus, who wants to start their day off with that, and the teacher for that class was way to perky. Luckily I met a girl named Angela who shared a few classes with me and offered me a seat at her table at lunch. When lunch time did come I was relieved that she offered me that seat, because I would've had to either eat alone or outside where it was freezing. Angela introduced me to her friends, I had Jessica in my pre-cal class and there was Ben, Lauren and finally Mike who kind of reminded me of a small puppy. The greasy haired boy from before was also sitting at the tabled.
I found myself sucked into nice conversation with Angela and Jessica when the cafeteria seemed to grow a little quieter. Looking over my shoulder I saw the most breathtakingly beautiful people I've ever seen. There were 5 of them, all pale and inhumanly beautiful. In the front was a short pixie like girl who seemed to dance gracefully as she walked. Her ink black hair framed her elf-like face in soft looking spikes. She was pulling her exact opposite by the hand; he was a tall, lean boy with blond curls and a stoic expression. He almost looked as if he was in pain, and while graceful his movements seemed a little robotic and forced if you were looking closely. Behind them were 2 other boys one who resembled a bear and one with what I would classify as "extreme sex hair". The bear-like one was gigantic with bulging muscles and short slightly curly dark hair. Even though he was intimidating the playful sparkle in his eye and goofy grin immediately made me assume that he was just a big teddy bear. The other boy looked a bit like he was over thinking something, or he was just constipated, either way it wasn't a very pretty look on him.
When my eyes fell on the last person I swear my heart stopped for a while. She was a tall statuesque blond. Her features were perfect but marred by the slight scowl she wore on her face. Her amazing body, curvy and soft looking although you could clearly see her muscle definition, was one a model would die for. Her legs seemed to go on forever and just as I finished ogling her I felt as if someone was watching me. My eyes shot back up to her face to find her liquid gold eyes glued to mine. I watched as her frown became more pronounced, and she appeared to have stopped breathing. I blushed and looked down at the table, becoming suddenly interested in my uneaten food. When I looked back up, just like in my dream and this morning, I saw a flash of blond hair, and for some inexplicable reason when she was out of my sight I felt empty.