I was a little bit freaked out. I still couldn't believe that I was in the movie. I was also dealing with the fact that I was a girl. I couldn't believe it. I was the main character or something. I was fairly certain that she looked different though. I wasn't sure how good I would be at being a girl. I didn't know anything about clothes or makeup and I didn't really know how to put on a bra. I was currently wearing one. This was kind of embarrassing. The guy who was supposed to be my father didn't talk too much.
I had managed to gather a little bit of information from him. I already knew my name was Alice Swan. His name was Charlie as noted by his nametag. My mother's name was Renee, and she was dating some guy named Phil. For some reason, I had decided to move from Phoenix to Forks, Washington to live with Charlie. I had done a little bit of looking at my phone, which was now an iPhone, and found that Forks was one of the rainiest cities in the whole country. I would have to make sure that I had a good umbrella because I was not used to getting rained on.
"So, your hair's different." He commented. He was probably trying to make conversation with me. He was probably doing better than I was. "Looks nice."
"Yeah, I decided to chop it off, I kind of like it like this." I improvised. I had never had long hair before, so at least I wouldn't have to deal with that. Of course, I didn't know a lot about getting haircuts, especially for girls, so it might not stay this short if I'm stuck here for any real period of time.
Charlie seemed like a man of few words. I assumed that he really said what was necessary. That was probably a good thing because I didn't really know the answers and I didn't know if I could handle a bunch of questions. After a few more minutes of driving, we pulled into the house. As soon as I stepped out of the car, we were greeted by a pair of Native American males. The two of them both had long hair. One of them was in a wheelchair and the other was roughly my age, maybe a year younger. I couldn't help but notice that he looked familiar. I didn't really recognize any of the names in the movie. I realized that I had seen the guy before. He was Shark Boy from Shark Boy and Lavagirl. I also couldn't help but wonder what that girl was doing now.
"Alice, you remember Billy and Jacob, don't you?" Charlie asked. I obviously didn't, but I had to act like I did.
"Wow Jake you've grown." I remarked as I looked him over. I hoped that he was okay with me calling him Jake. I didn't know when the last time I would have seen him was, so I imagined that he was bigger than he was before.
"And you haven't." He joked. I frowned at his response. I really didn't like being so small. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to reach things that were on high shelves. "I'm sorry that was mean."
I hadn't really measured myself, but I was pretty sure that I couldn't have much taller than five feet tall. I couldn't help but wonder if it meant that I would have to wear high heels. I didn't know how to walk in them, and I wasn't sure if that would be a good deal with the wet climate. Also, the place was pretty woodsy, so there could be holes in the ground that I could accidentally step in. Maybe I could use that as an excuse not to wear heels.
"Well, I haven't been taking steroids like you." I quipped. I was really trying not to sound too mean. He was kind of muscular. Talking to people in person really wasn't my specialty.
"We'll leave you two to catch up." Charlie said. I then realized that maybe I could find out some more information by talking to Jacob. Maybe I could find out some stuff from the past or something.
"So how have you been?" I asked Jacob. It seemed like something that you would ask someone that you hadn't seen in a while.
"Pretty good. Been working a lot." Jake answered. I couldn't help but wonder where he was working because there really didn't seem to be a lot of business around here. All I really saw was a sporting goods store and a restaurant. I was pretty sure that there was a small grocery store as well. I suppose that left a few options.
"Working, what you have you been working on?" I questioned. I supposed that the easiest way would be to just ask him. I hoped that he would not think that I was being too nosy, but he seemed friendly enough that he would tell me.
"Mostly old cars and other vehicles, there really isn't much to do around the reservation." He commented. Okay, so he was training to be a mechanic then. That was probably a good idea because people always needed work on their cars and those jobs would never really disappear even in a bad economy. "I just finished on your truck out there."
"My truck?" I asked. I had noticed a red truck. I looked like it was pretty old. Still having any form of transportation would probably be a good thing especially since it was so rainy.
"Didn't Charlie tell you?" He asked. I looked over at him.
"Umm Surprise!" Charlie said. "It's kind of your homecoming present. I hope it doesn't look too crappy."
"No dad, I love it." I responded. Yes, it looked terrible, but he had given me a truck and it would be rude to say that I didn't like it. I would just have to figure out how to drive in this body. "I can't wait to drive it."
"Why don't you have Jake teach you how to drive it? You could drive it to the school, so you know how to get there tomorrow." Charlie suggested. So, I would be going to school tomorrow. "It will give you two a chance to bond without us old folks."
"Watch who you're calling old." Billy said. The wheelchair didn't really help his case.
So, after Jake gave me some instructions, we started driving. It was a stick shift which I had never driven before, and he also managed to help me figure out how to see over my breasts while I was driving and reach the pedals correctly.
"So, what happened to your dad?" I asked. "He wasn't in a wheelchair the last time I saw him."
I was basically going off of nonsense. I hoped that I wasn't wrong because it would make me look like a fool. Charlie made it seem like I had seen Billy before. It sucked trying to talk to people that I was supposed to know even though I very much did not know any of them.
"He's paralyzed because of diabetes." Jake stated. I was glad that I hadn't made myself look like an idiot. "Lots of stuff has changed Ali. Like I never thought I'd have longer hair than you."
"I like it like this. I don't have to worry about it getting in my eyes like yours." I replied as I noticed a large school-like building. I hoped that I wouldn't have to deal with that issue in the future. "So, this is the school, right?"
"Yeah, this is the place." He confirmed.
"So, do you know anything I should know about this school? Like what sport is the big time?" I asked. It would probably help to know someone at school because he could show me around.
"Well, I don't go to this school, but I do know they don't really have much of an athletic department." He responded. Okay, that was unfortunate, and it looked like I would be starting school without any friends. I was not good at making friends, so this was going to suck.
"You don't go here?" I asked in surprise. Was he just not going to school. I mean I supposed if he was Native, he might need to. I knew that they sometimes didn't follow all of the country's laws.
"No, I go to school on the reservation." He explained. That also made sense, even though I did feel like that wouldn't be as good as going to a regular school.
"Well, that sucks." I declared with a pout. I knew that was something that girls did. I was pretty sure it wouldn't change anything. "It would been nice to know someone here before I started."
"Well, it doesn't look like you can do very much about that." He commented. Yes, I already knew that. "We should probably get this thing back home. I'll need to roll my dad away, so he doesn't get caught up in the TV and you don't get any unexpected guests sleeping over."
I laughed at his joke. I didn't think that it was offensive because it was pretty good-natured.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I agreed. I probably needed to get used to my new surroundings and I imagined that I would be spending a lot of time at the house.
So, I drove back to Charlie's house, which I guess was now my house as well. Once we got there, Jacob managed to remove his father from the TV, telling him it was for his own good. It was definitely an amusing sight to see. Both Charlie and I had to stifle our laughter so we wouldn't start cracking up as the scene unfolded. I smiled as I watched Jacob roll his dad out the door. I wasn't sure if I would get a lot of chances to laugh since the movie wasn't a comedy.
"I should probably head to bed soon." I announced. "I've gotta get used to this new time zone."
It was an entirely different time zone. I had been in the Central Time Zone before. Not to mention, I wasn't sure how well I would sleep being in this different world and also as a girl.
"Okay well there's some space in the bathroom for you and some girl from the hardware store picked out the paint. I hope you like purple." He explained. It was then that I realized that girls needed things in the bathroom that guys didn't. It was likely that I was going to experience a period. Even though the movie didn't really mention it, I was probably still going to happen.
"Purple's fine." I said as I grabbed my bag, and Charlie grabbed the other one. I didn't really like purple, but it wasn't like he could repaint it, so I would have to accept it.
Once I was changed for bed, Charlie came into to talk to me. I was wearing a skimpy pink nightgown. I didn't really like how it looked, but it was all that I had. I had to look up some makeup stuff and found that I was supposed to wash it off before bed.
"So, I'll probably be gone when you wake up." He said as he scratched the back of his head. "You know with the whole being chief of police thing."
"It's fine Dad. I know that you need to keep this town safe." I replied. If that was how it was, then I couldn't do anything about it.
"So, I love you and good night." He said awkwardly. "That is what I'm supposed to say, right?"
"Good night, Dad." I said with a laugh. Surprisingly, it didn't take me very long to succumb to sleep.
In the morning, true to his word, Charlie wasn't there. I hopped in the shower. I was weird looking at my bare body and it made me kind of uncomfortable, but I knew that I just wouldn't be able to not bathe. I had to use this body wash that smelled kind of weird. I hoped that I would get used to being a girl because it felt really awkward washing certain areas of my body. I was even a little bit aroused. All I could tell was being a girl was going to be a difficult adjustment.
Anyways I dressed for school and ate some cereal which was one of the few things that was in the cupboard. I would probably have to go shopping for food later because I had a feeling that Charlie wouldn't do it himself and eating out all of the time probably wasn't very healthy for him. Luckily, I knew how to cook because I had done some of that for myself in college.
After I was done eating, I went out the door and climbed into my truck. I would probably get some looks at school being such a small girl driving such a big truck but that really wasn't important. I would probably also get quite a few looks because I was a new student, and I also didn't have the most conventional look.
I pulled into the parking lot of the school, not sure what to expect. I just hoped that it would go well.
So it looks like so far, Alice is adapting to her new life. She may not like it but she's adapting. How will school go for her? Please don't forget to review.