The Last Bookstore

Happy Halloween! It's time, it's time! Time for some little Halloween truffles, a few two-fers.

All credit for characters and setting to the amazing Stephenie Meyer, of course. She creates, I play.

Chapter 2 – Home, or Is It?

October 24th

After an amazing number of stops and transfers, the bus rolled into LAX. Looking at the other passengers struggling with enormous suitcases and carry-ons, Bella was glad she only had her backpack and purse.

As she entered LAX, all she could think was, What a zoo. She checked in for her Alaska Airlines flight and found the terminal.

Just to kill time, she strolled the terminal. Construction everywhere, but the food concessions still managed to churn out things to tempt bored travelers. The usual Hudson's bookstores. She remembered these from her flights from Seattle to Phoenix. . How could a bookstore have nothing of interest in it? She thought back to her earlier trip to that fascinating Last Bookstore. The Hudson's were soulless.

Which was probably the point. They were supposed to be standard and uniform, a concession, just like the McDonald's around the corner.

She sat in one of the chairs and indulged in a little people watching. Everybody else was going somewhere. Most looked happy; a few looked bored and a few more looked exhausted.

It made her wonder where she wanted to go. She wasn't sure about these California schools. Nothing had felt right to her.

Bella looked at the Alaska Airlines exhibits that lined the hallway. What about Alaska? She had read about colleges up there. The photos made the campus made it look just like Forks, though. Pine trees, etc. Except the words University of Alaska was painted on the road.

Now that would be a place with almost no sun for most of the year, and six months without a single sunrise. The school year would be during the majority of those six months. What an awful thought.

She really had no plans. A lot of the other kids had definite plans. Some planned to follow a parent's footsteps in wanting to be a minister or nurse, and while others chose a new path, wanted to go to the police academy or some such thing.

She felt…nothing. She wasn't going to let it worry her. College was billed as a time of self-discovery. But she was dreading it.

Bella shifted, looking around. She had the feeling of being followed since she arrived at the airport. She didn't know why. For once she was glad Charlie had insisted on picking her up at the airport. His uniform would put a stop to anyone following her.

Finally they called her flight and she lined up with the others. Airports, all about lines. Wasn't everything these days? She had heard people in that bookstore in Los Angeles talking about waiting in lines for hours to meet the author and get an autograph.

As she waited, she thought she got a whiff of that same aftershave. Looking around, she saw several tall, lanky guys. No blue hoodies. And most of them were either talking to tall, lanky girls or reading books. No one was staring at her.

Then she saw him. A guy wearing jeans and a blue hoodie. He was across the terminal, a long ways away. He'd been looking in her direction, she was sure of it.

But he couldn't be following her at that distance. Probably just gazing into space. Was she getting paranoid? Imagine adding that to the list of injuries she went to the E.R. for. She could just imagine future visit with Dr. Gerandy or Snow. After stitching up her latest cut, they would ask, casually of course, "So, anyone following you today?"

Just get on the plane. She shuffled from one foot to the other and made small talk with the woman standing next to her. This girl had a full size rolling bag and an enormous duffle too. Were they going to let her take all of that on board?

Finally they were all on the plane. She had managed to get a window seat, and she took full advantage of it, staring down at the blue ocean below as the plane took off. Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep, but the flight was too short.

As she exited the plane, she picked up a few notes of the same aftershave. This time, instead of making her nervous, she felt relieved to smell it. It had become something she needed.

Must be some new cologne. She'd check out the perfume counters, saying it was for a boyfriend, then buy a bottle, and she'd be set. No need for anyone else in her life to complicate. Just take a whiff of that scent whenever she felt like it.

Because that scent was now making her weak in the knees.

When she got to luggage claim, Charlie was there, waiting. She surprised them both by running to him. "Dad," she said, burying herself against his chest. Nope, he wasn't wearing the cologne. He just smelled like Charlie.

"Bella," he replied, his gruff voice sounding worried. "Did something happen in Los Angeles?"

"No, just glad to see you," she replied.

"Oh. OK," he said. That was Charlie. Not a talker, but clearly pleased she had been so glad to see him.

"So, anything happen while I was gone?"

"Mariners won," he said, grabbing her bag off the carousel. "I got it," he told her as she reached for it.

"Glad to hear it. Billy watch the game with you?" she asked. Her father and his friends were nothing if not reliable.

"Yeah, with Jacob, and Harry Clearwater's fish fry," Charlie replied.

That life was enough for him. It strengthened Bella's resolve to leave, but go where and do what?

Was there a place where one could study to design colognes? Because that scent was stuck in her head. She dubbed it "Mystery Man."

When they pulled into Forks, the tiny town felt smaller than ever. The place seemed dwarfed by the large trees scattered through the city and lining the hills. Bella went upstairs and sat on her bed, pulling off her shoes. She still felt restless and went to the window. Outside, the night was overcast but occasionally the moon broke through.

She flopped down on her bed, turned out the lights, and watched the shadows on the ceiling. She felt a tugging, a tugging toward…what? She didn't know. She never even undressed.

October 25th

The next morning Bella got up and went to take a shower. Looking in the mirror, she knew anyone seeing her would know she hadn't slept. Still, a little concealer and she'd be OK. OK enough for Forks.

At school, Angela chatted to her excitedly about her trip. What had she thought about the campuses, what were the student advisors like, had she liked the library, and so forth.

Lauren and Jessica tried not to be impressed she was considering going to school in Southern California. "So, which schools are you leaning toward?" Lauren asked. She'd never asked Bella before, only talked about her own plans for the University of Virginia.

"I'm still not sure," Bella replied truthfully. "I've got a few more to look at."

Bella caught Mike staring at her, not asking her anything. She was sure if Mike wanted to know if the USC girls were hot, without asking that question directly. She took pity on him. "So, yeah. I guess even though it's kind of warm, the kids still dress for the season," she said to Angela.

Mike's ears perked up.

"I mean," she told a puzzled Angela, "I could live in USC colors. I probably wouldn't run around with USC on my shorts like the girls I saw, though. Not in October."

Angela caught on and giggled. "What else were they wearing?"

"Oh some had those kind of thin sweaters," Bella replied casually. "The fake things, like we wore in Phoenix. They get sticky and cling when it gets too hot, though."

Both girls turned when they heard a thud. Yep, Mike had fallen out of his chair.

The lunchroom, which had gone silent after Mike's fall, erupted into laugher when he got up unhurt. Mike was mad, but turned it into a laugh himself.

Bella could read him so well. She knew he was fuming inside, for all the jokes and smiles he presented to the outside world.

Funny thing, but Bella thought she heard another laugh, coming from outside the cafeteria. Something deeper, entrancing. She looked but couldn't see anyone. It must be coming from the trees near campus.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Angela.

"Hear what?" Angela asked.

"Nothing. Just thought I heard…well, someone else laughing."

Angela always took her seriously. "Someone else from where?"

Bella looked back outside. "Out there."

Angela craned her neck. "I don't see anyone."

"Plenty of people in here, Bella," Lauren said. "What, no one's laugh in this room good enough? Need some California laughter?"

Jessica snickered.

It was going to be a long school year.

Xxx

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Hope you had a great October.