Chapter 2

Bella and her friend Sarah were driving toward Port Angeles to pick up their friend Ailani from the train station. Ailani had called Bella to tell her that she would come earlier than planned because her flight from Honolulu to Seattle was early. Ailani had hopped on the first train to Port Angeles; she rather waited there than at the airport. She would spend extra time wandering around Port Angeles, but Bella had promised her that she wouldn't have to wait long.

"I can't believe we will spend whole two weeks together," Bella said as she checked from her phone's GPS which way she should go to get them to the railway station. It had been a few years since she last drove to Port Angeles, and there was a new intersection leading to the city.

"Me neither. It will be so much fun. Do you think we can go back to the beach? Did you see all those hot native guys there?" Sarah winked.

"Yeah. My old friend Jacob is a native Quileute, and he was getting pretty hot when I last saw him; he was 16 then. I still haven't met him; he's been away helping his aunt, who is sick. I can't wait to catch up with him," Bella told Sarah when she pulled in front of the train station.

"But I was so shy back then, and I felt intimidated by all those native guys, well by any guys really," Bella giggled. "So, I don't know any of the other guys, only Jake and his two best friends, Embry and Quil."

"Cool names: Embry and Quil," Sarah mused.

"There's Ailani!" Bella shrieked.

Both girls jumped out of the truck and ran screaming to their best friend.

"Aloha bitches!" Ailani shouted while dropping her bags and running to meet them.

Girls hugged each other tightly and laughed. The three of them had been inseparable for almost three years, and this was the first time they were all together after first Sarah, and then Bella had moved away. It's been nearly three months.

"I'm so happy to see you girls," Ailani said and gave them both big kisses on their cheeks. They went to get Ailani's bags and walked to the truck.

"I'm starving," Bella said, "We should go and get something to eat. What do you feel like having?" Bella started her truck, and it roared to life.

"What a beast," Ailani laughed, "can you hear yourself thinking while driving this monster?"

"Don't hate my truck," Bella pouted. She looked over her shoulder to see if it was safe to pull off the parking spot and asked Ailani the question she was dreading to ask, "how is Bane?"

"I could lie and say he's good, but I don't," Ailani said. "He was a mess when I saw him the other day. I could tell that he had been drinking. He gave me this to give to you." Ailani rummaged through her purse and pulled out a small gift-wrapped box.

"Oh, thanks," was all Bella was able to say. She took the gift and sighed. Bane was her boyfriend she had met while living in Hawaii with her mother and her new husband, Phil. She and Bane had been together for over a year. Bane wanted them to try a long-distance relationship because he did not want them to break up. Bella had agreed to try, although she had her doubts about how it would work. She had also started to realize some things that weren't so good between them. Quite big things.

Bella winched when she remembered how badly Bane had taken the news about her moving away. He had gone crazy, and after shouting at her for half an hour, he had started to cry. Bane never cried. It was very unsettling, and it had made her sad. At that moment, Bella realized that she had never loved Bane as much as he loved her. It had made her miserable.

And yes, Bella knew that moving from Hawaii to rainy Washington sounded crazy stupid, especially when she started her studies to become a marine biologist. There were many good colleges to study in Honolulu, not to mention the beautiful marine life and the warm climate and many good friends and loving boyfriend and her mother… yes, moving away were crazy.

But she had her reasons, the biggest one being that Charlie needed her. Well, he hadn't said that much, but Bella knew. Her father had been in an accident year ago, and he had injured his left leg and hip so bad that he was forced out of his job as the police chief of Forks. He continued as an office rat, as he put it himself, which was great since he might as well have lost his job altogether. He got a role as a crime analyst, and he was very well respected among his colleagues. But he missed the action (as if there was any in Forks), and Bella could tell he wasn't happy.

And it wasn't just that. Bella needed her father too, she missed a parent her mother never could be, and although living in Hawaii had been crazy fun and exciting, she missed Forks and La Push. She missed her dad, her friend Jacob and even some of her friends from High school. Hell, she even missed the gloomy rainy weather at times. She understood the song words saying, "you only miss the sun when it starts to snow." She wanted to miss the sun. Yeah crazy.

And she missed the bookshop in Forks. The one with a coffee shop and old armchairs. It was where she spent most of her free time when she lived with her dad. She had already decided that if she weren't smart enough to become a marine biologist, she would want to own a bookshop just like that. Maybe the owner, Peter, would consider selling the shop to her. "Armchair Books" it was called. She liked the name. Peter had told her that he named the shop after the bookshop in Edinburgh in Scotland.

"So, do you have any preferences for dinner?"

"What ev," Ailani and Sarah answered same time.

"What ev eh? Well, it looks like it might rain soon, let's go to have some Italian. I park here, and we can go to Bella Italia, just across the street," Bella said and parked her truck. "I was thinking of getting some nice tacos for a takeaway and eating them by the Pier, but we'll do that some other time. I heard the mushroom ravioli is very good in Bella Italia."

Aliani and Sarah were happy to eat some good mushroom ravioli and maybe a class of good chardonnay to go with it. The girls didn't often drink, hardly ever get drunk, but they have grown to like good white wine ever since they became friends with Alicia, a daughter of a family that owned a winery in New Zealand.

"What was that one wine called?" Sarah tried to remember, "the one with some mussel in its name?"

"Oyster Bay," Ailani remembered.

"Yeah, that one. Do you think they might have it in Bella Italia?"

"I really doubt it," said Bella, "but ABC is on our way to Forks. We could check if they have it."

One thing that Bella loved about Honolulu was that it was so multicultural. She had met people all over the world while living in there. She had even befriended a girl as far as Finland. She had told amazing things about her home country, and she couldn't wait to discuss some of them with her dad. Jana from Switzerland, Abu from South Africa, Ana from Portugal, Andrea from Columbia, Jo from Australia, Pei-Ti from Taiwan... She did miss them all. But now she had her British friend and Hawaiian friend here. All was good.

Girls went in. It was pretty busy, but they were lucky to snatch a nice booth by the window when a party of five was just leaving. They ordered the ravioli and decided to take a glass of chardonnay each from the local winery.

"Are you going to open the gift?" Ailani asked Bella.

"Yeah, I guess I should. I just feel so guilty, you know," Bella sighed. In her heart, she knew that they were over. She just realized that. Was it right to accept the gift when she knew she didn't love him as much as he loved her? She did love him, but she was not in love with him anymore. She should give the gift back.

"I know what is in there," Ailani confessed. "Bane showed me before he wrapped it."

Bella fiddled with the black pearl on her neck. She was with Bane when she bought that, and Bane had given her the one around her wrist. She loved black pearls. They were from Tahiti, actually, but widely sold in Hawaii. "Is there some kind of black pearl?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, pearl earrings," said Ailani.

"Oh, God! What should I do?" Bella sighed desperately. "He almost bought me beautiful pearl studs once, but they were too expensive, and I told him no. I hope he hasn't spent that much money on them."

Bella took a sip of her wine and looked at her friends. She put the gift into her bag and decided she would think about the situation later. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the company of her best friends and have some fun. She really had missed them terribly.

"I see you are still carrying that ugly dirtbag with you," Ailani laughed.

"Why the hell I wouldn't," Bella faked offend, "it's the damn best bag ever." She really loved her red dirt-dyed tote bag with a Honu on it. It certainly had seen better days, but it was just why she loved it so.

"Yeah, you never were a handbag girl, were you?" Sarah said.

"Hell no, and never will be."

"Are you sure my Chloé baby cannot tempt you at least a little?" Sarah joked and stroked lovingly her beloved darling costing half of a month's paycheck. For Bella, it looked ridiculous with all the bugles and zippers and expensive-looking leather. No way, she would always be a canvas tote-girl. She had dozens of them. It was her weakness, really; silly, but she always bought a new one if she saw one she liked. Her other favorite was one made from a used tea towel. It had a black and white street view from New York in it.

"I can buy two hundred totes with the prize you paid for that baby."

"But I need only one," Sarah pouted.

"Yeah, like you had only one," Bella giggled.

Just then, her mobile buzzed, and she took it from her beloved red dirt died bag and read the message. She smiled.

"There is a beach party on Saturday. Jacob is turning 19, and his family and friends are throwing him a bonfire party. We are all invited," Bella told her friends and winked.

"E Hula Hula Kāua!" girls cheered and emptied their wine glasses.

27.5.2021