CHAPTER NINE
By the time they arrived at the high school, Bella was already exhausted. The daily routine was to work out at the gym, shower, and get ready to go to school. Breakfast would be grab-and-go—either a protein bar or protein shake.
The gym had been confusing. Bella still wasn't quite sure how to handle the gym because most of her training was during softball season and on the field. She decided to run on the treadmill while her father went through his routine.
She hadn't realized her father worked so hard in the gym, but those muscles the women admired so much had to come from somewhere. She wondered if she should work out with weights for softball and decided to ask the coach at the high school. She needed to discover who the softball coach was first.
Bella was now walking into the high school with her father. The other students stared, wondering who she was. There were several kids saying hello to Chief Swan, hoping he'd introduce the girl he was with to them.
Oh, that's right, Bella thought; there had been no warning that she was coming to live with her father this time, so the kids had no idea who she was. This should be interesting.
When they got to the office, Bella was introduced to Mrs Cope, the secretary, and led into the principal's office with her father.
"Hello, Charlie. Who do we have here?" Mr Greene, the principal, asked.
Of course, Bella didn't need an introduction, but no one knew that except for herself and Taha Aki.
"Harold, this is my daughter Bella. She's come to live with me permanently, so I'm here to enroll her in school."
Mr Greene extended his hand out for her to shake. She took it and shook his hand, making sure to make eye contact. She learned that it was important to do that while watching a movie. She figured she might as well make a good impression beginning now.
"What grade are you in, Bella?"
"Oh, I'm a junior."
"And where were you before this?"
"I was at Glendale High School in Arizona. Who is the softball coach?"
Mr Greene clutched his belly and laughed. "I see the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Your father would have been asking who the baseball coach was when he was in high school. We were teammates, but your father was a lot more talented than I was. He was our star pitcher. What position do you play?"
"When I was a freshman, I played third base, but last year, I covered first base."
"My Bella has a .435 batting average," Charlie said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"As a junior?" Mr Greene asked. "Now, that's impressive. We'll get you in touch with Coach Clapp right away. She's also the gym teacher."
"Cool," Bella replied, determined to make a better impression on Coach Clapp this go. And then she had a thought. She had a sudden onset of clumsiness and couldn't even walk straight the last time she was here. Why was that? She was actually pretty agile. But the last time, it was like she was on drugs, and she became progressively worse after she started seeing Edward. Was it possible he did something to her?
"Now, let's see about getting you enrolled in classes," Mr Greene continued. "Okay, I'm looking at your transcripts. Your grades are, uh… above average for the most part. There's a note from your math teacher stating that you'd benefit from a slower-paced class if available, which we have, so I'll enroll you in that."
"That's a good idea. Bella clearly takes after me because that junior year math class nearly killed me," her father said.
"Why do you think I implemented the idea? I had trouble in math during high school, too. Ask the teacher for help, or I can refer your father to a tutor if it gets too difficult.
Now, let's move onto science. Juniors at this high school usually take advanced biology, but you were enrolled in physics, which is a senior year class here. You were doing well in physics so I'll give you a choice between the two classes.
Bella shrugged. For some reason, she found physics to be fascinating. It was way better than the advanced biology class that Mrs Cope had put her in the last time. And then she thought how different this was because Mr. Greene was personally seeing to her schedule while Mrs. Cope had probably just generated a random junior year schedule the last time.
"As long as it's not advanced biology, I'm good," Bella said. "I really didn't enjoy biology at all, and the thought of a continuation of that makes me shudder."
"Alright, Bella, no biology classes for you," Mr Greene laughed. And with that, she avoided having to sit next to Deadward.
"Now, let's see English, Math, Science, and US History here. Would you like to continue with French, or do you want to choose an elective? We don't require our students to take more than two years of a foreign language, and you're hovering between a B and a C in that class," Mr Greene explained.
"Uh, take me out of the class, please." With this one, she would be able to avoid both Edward and Alice.
"Alright, we need to select an academic elective for you to put in place of the foreign language."
"Yoga or softball?" Bella asked, hopefully.
Mr Greene laughed. "Those are not options."
"Let's see, you can take criminal justice, psychology, forensics, mythology…"
"I'll take criminal justice. I figure I have a tutor in my house to help me."
"You've got your orders, Charlie. You've been recruited."
Bella's father chuckled. "Looks like it."
"And now, we just need to enroll you in an arts elective class—those include Home Economics, Technology Education—which is a fancy word for shop, Drawing and Painting, and Native American Handicrafts."
Bella sat and considered this. The last time, she was randomly enrolled in drawing and painting, and she hated it. Alice was in the class, and it became annoying to no end. Shop was out because the male Cullens were all in the class. She had no idea what class Rosalie Hale was in, which left… "I'll try Native American Handicrafts," Bella declared.
"Excellent! It's probably our least popular art class, but the kids who enroll in it all love it." Mr Greene fiddled with the computer more, saying, "That leaves PE." Mr Greene printed several copies of the schedule, giving two to Bella and one to Charlie and keeping one copy for himself.
"Alright, Charlie, all of Bella's forms are set. I just need you to fill out a couple of emergency contact forms. You can have Bella bring them in tomorrow. You'll need to put money into her lunch account, so stop by the cafeteria for that, and Martha will show you how to open an account. You can either give her a check, or you can link a credit card and pay online through the website. Anyway, she'll show you how to do it."
"That's terrific. Thanks, Harold." Charlie shook the principal's hand and then turned to Bella. "You have a good day. Remember, be confident. For today, I'll pick you up right after school. That way, I can show you the way to my office."
"Okay, Dad. I love you."
"Love you, too, kiddo. I'll just stop by at the cafeteria."
With that, her father left the office, and Mr Greene personally escorted her to her locker, which was exactly the same combination. Then, she was taken on a quick tour of the school since the first period was almost done. At the end, when the bell rang, she was introduced to the math teacher and then escorted off to her next class, English.
Mr Greene entered the classroom, and spoke. "Hello, students. This is Bella Swan. She just moved here from Arizona, and she'll be joining us at Forks High School beginning today. Let's see, Lauren, would you mind showing Bella to her next class? Bella will be joining the softball team with you."
"Of course."
Bella groaned. She didn't know Lauren at all, but she had a reputation for being bitchy. At least, that's what Edward and Jessica had told her.
Keep an open mind. Keep an open mind. She repeated to herself.
"Bella, why don't you sit next to Lauren? Angela, can you move to the seat next to Mike?" After everyone was seated, the teacher introduced himself. "I'm Mr Berty." He reached into a cabinet, grabbed a book and a syllabus, and placed it on Bella's desk. "You're joining us mid-semester, but luckily, we've just finished midterms. We're starting a new book, 'The Scarlett Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne."
Bella did a mental cheer. She had read this one already, so she had a head start, and once the next semester came around, she knew what to expect. She could concentrate on improving herself for the most part.
Bella thanked the teacher and then whispered an introduction to Lauren. She put a smile on her face and said, "Hi, I'm Bella."
"I'm Lauren. Nice to meet you. What position do you play?"
"Um, I can play any position, but first base."
"Cool, our first baseman graduated, so we really need you. What…"
Lauren was cut off by the class beginning, but in Bella's opinion, it was a good start.
Lauren escorted Bella to her physics class and told her she'd meet her after class since she was just two doors down. They'd go to PE and then lunch together.
Bella met a whole bunch of seniors in Physics class. They were all very friendly. She'd seen them but never really spoken to them. The book was the same one she'd used the first time around during her senior year, so she'd already gone through the class. The first time around, she'd gotten a C plus in the class; hopefully, she could raise it to at least a B.
Mr Magno, the teacher, began pairing up the students. "We'll be making a catapult for this project. Bella, your partner, will be Riley. Can you raise your hand, Riley?"
Bella glanced over, and her eyes widened momentarily. Her partner for the catapult project was none other than Victoria's lackey—Riley Biers. He was still human, though. She decided right then and there to persuade him to attend college anywhere but the University of Washington, where he had been a student when he was changed.
XOXO
In PE, Lauren introduced Bella to Coach Clapp. "According to Mr Greene, she'll be playing softball with us."
"Yep, I've already heard about her. You're Charlie's daughter, right?"
"Uh, yes, I am."
"And what position do you play?"
"I can cover any position, but I was on first base last year."
Coach Clapp nodded. "Varsity, right? I heard you're a hitter. We can use you on our team. Welcome. We've got off-season drills twice a week after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I expect to see you tomorrow."
"Sure, sure," Bella said, mentally reminding herself to ask her father to take her to Newtons for new cleats because hers were unbelievably old and no longer functional.
"I'm going to get you a permission form. Bring it back tomorrow." With that, Coach Clapp clapped her hands and announced, "Alright, kids, let's warm up with laps."
XOXO
Gym class went way better than the last time when she was so afraid of making a fool out of herself that she spiked a ball right onto Mike Newton's head. This time, it was much better because she was doing her best to assert herself.
Now, it was lunch, and she was in the same old familiar cafeteria. She was still a mysterious person since no one really knew who she was yet. The last time she started at Forks High School, both Ben Cheney and Mike Newton flirted with her, Jessica Stanley had been unbelievably fake, and Angela Weber had walked up to her and snapped a photo of her.
She didn't mind those kids. In fact, she liked some of them, but maybe making friends with common interests was the way she'd go this time.
They went through the lunch line and got their food. Lauren introduced her to everyone at her table. "Everyone, this is Bella Swan. She's joining our team this year, and she's our much-needed first baseman."
"Oh, thank God! I'm Katie, by the way. My dad texted me and said to look for you." She turned to everyone at the table. "This is Chief Swan's daughter from Arizona."
"My dad wasn't sure if you were in my grade or not. It's nice to meet you."
Katie nodded, and then Lauren continued with her introductions. "This is Ashely Dowling, Samantha Wells, and Tara Galvez. There are other girls on the team, but they have a different lunch period, and there are girls from the school on the reservation who play on the team, too."
"So, you play first base? For what team?" Ashley asked.
"Oh, Glendale High School in Arizona."
Ashley had her smartphone at the ready. "What town is that in?"
"She said Glendale, genius!" Lauren snapped.
"Well, how am I to know if that's an actual town? I've never been further than Seattle," she explained while typing. "Holy shit. You have a .435 batting average, and your team was the state champion!"
Suddenly, a football came hurling towards their table from God only knew where. Bella spotted it, and rather than ducking, she caught it.
A bullhorn sounded from somewhere, and Mr Greene announced, "Mr Crowley, in my office NOW."
"What did I do?" Tyler asked defensively.
"You purposely threw a football at the table where the new student is seated. Why? I don't know, but you should be grateful that Miss Swan has fast reflexes. Now, get to my office now!" Mr Greene bellowed this all into his bullhorn.
"Can I get my football back?" Tyler asked as Mr Greene walked away.
"Bella?" Mr Greene asked.
"Go wide, Mr Greene," she said and tossed it straight to him. He caught the ball with a wink, and at that moment, Bella Swan became the most popular girl in school.
XOXO
At the end of the day, Charlie walked inside to pick her up. He dropped the forms off at the office and was then given another stack of forms on the way out by Coach Clapp, who explained they needed to be filled out by tomorrow's practice.
"But doesn't softball start in the spring?" Charlie asked.
"I like to keep the girls on their game with off-season drills on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We play indoors if it's raining."
"Sounds good."
"Oh, and you need to pay the activity fee and take a concussion training class."
"I've already been trained to look for concussions," Charlie said.
"Hey, if Dr Gerandy has to take the class, then you do too. It's required every year."
"Even Mom had to take the class in Arizona, Daddy. It's online and only takes a half-hour or so."
"There you go, Chucky. You need to buck up and do the class for the sake of your daughter."
"Alrighty, Agatha."
"Agatha? You don't look like an Agatha," Bella noted.
"I guess I deserved that," Coach Clapp said.
Charlie winked at her. "See you later, Aggie."
XOXO
"How was school? Did you make any friends today?" Charlie asked. Bella's father had picked her up on foot. He was showing her how to get to the police station, which was just down the street from the high school.
Bella, of course, knew where it was, but her father didn't know.
"It was good. I took your advice and made friends with some of the girls on the softball team. Criminal Justice seems like a fun class, and Native American Handicrafts is going to be fun. The teacher's name is Connie Littlesea. Do you know her?"
"Huh, I had no idea Connie was teaching at Forks High. Yeah, that's Billy's younger sister."
"Oh, that's handy if I need help."
"I know a whole bunch of people who can help you if necessary."
"Alright. The building up ahead is the police department, so it's a less than five-minute walk. Now, if it's dark out, it goes without saying that you are not to trek it alone."
"Okay."
"Oh, and here." He handed Bella a key attached to a Forks Outfitters keychain. "I had a spare key made for the house for you. If I'm not home, you deadbolt the door."
"Got it."
"Good. Now, let's go inside."
When Bella entered the police department building with her father, there was a round of applause for her. Her father introduced her to everyone, many of whom she recognized.
Lieutenant Marshall gave her a high-five for being brave when dealing with Greg Ronstein and Officer Kreuger. "You did well when you read her badge number and name out loud. We were recording on our end, so we have an audio file of what happened in case she tries to wheedle her way out of things."
"I don't think you have to worry about that, Ken. The police chief there said she was a problem. They're sending her in for a psych evaluation."
"Well, I couldn't believe my ears when I heard what happened. It's just completely unbelievable. If any cop here behaved that way, it would be a one-way ticket to the unemployment office for him or her."
Another police officer approached her. "Hi, Bella. I'm Captain Marks. My son Austin is in your class. He told me you can catch and throw with the best of them."
"I'm sorry. I haven't met Austin." Well, she had, but not in this timeline.
"Austin sent me a video of the incident in the cafeteria a few minutes ago."
"What incident in the cafeteria?" Charlie asked, concerned.
"Oh, you've got to see this." Captain Marks connected his phone to the large projector screen, and before Bella knew it, a video of Tyler throwing the football and Bella catching it was playing. It followed with Mr Greene chastising Tyler and Bella telling the principal to go wide and launching the football to him."
Her father laughed. "Send that to me, will ya?"
"Uh, can I have a copy, too?" Bella asked.
"Of course, you can. You're the star of the video." The reason why Bella wanted the video was because she had spotted something interesting on the projection screen. For some reason, all the Cullens had their eyes glued on her. Alice Cullen was pointing to her while arguing with Edward, who kept shaking his head. What the heck was that about? She planned on reviewing it fully when she returned home.
"Alright, kiddo. Get to your homework. I still have work to do," her father said. "You can work in the lounge."
"Okie dokie," Bella said and went straight there. She crinkled her nose when she saw the disaster that was the Forks Police Department employee lounge. There was no way in hell she was going to work there. The mess was distracting.
She found a package of rubber gloves mounted on the wall by the kitchen sink. She donned a pair, found some Mr Clean and paper towels, and got to cleaning. She wiped all the surfaces down and threw out the trash that was littered on the table and counters. Afterward, she swept and mopped the floors before finally tying off the bag in the overflowing trash bin and replacing it with a new bag. The final thing she did was wipe down the interior of the refrigerator before spraying Lysol on every single surface just to be safe.
The whole thing took about an hour but if she had to study in here, she wanted it to be clean. She didn't want to pick up a strange disease and wind up in the hospital. That thought had her reaching for the hand sanitizer in her backpack.
Bella completed all of her homework within thirty minutes. She spent the time afterward creating a list of school supplies she needed to purchase. She made sure to add cleats and new batting gloves to the list. She would need those for practice tomorrow.
"My God! What happened in here?" Lieutenant Marshall asked, walking into the room. "Did you do this, Bella?"
"Well, it was kind of toxic," Bella commented.
"Yeah, it was. I guess we were all waiting for someone to clean it up."
Bella's expression became one of horror. "How do y'all live with yourselves?"
Lieutenant Marshall started laughing. "I guess we've gotten so used to this mess that we haven't given it a thought." He ruffled her hair. "Great job cleaning this place up, kid." He filled his mug with coffee and disappeared.
Bella stood to check out the coffee pot. She lifted it up and was horrified. There was a quarter inch of sludge on the bottom of the pot. Gross. These cops had probably just been making coffee over and over again without rinsing the pot.
Well, it was unavoidable. She needed to clean the coffee maker. Otherwise, there would be a listeria outbreak in Forks. In fact, she was surprised the law enforcement community was still standing. She rolled up her sleeves and began cleaning. An hour later, she had put on some serious elbow grease and cleaned the coffee pot and all the parts that accompanied it, including the machine. She ran some vinegar through the machine, then ran some clean water through it three times like she had been taught at work. Then, she put in a new filter and made a fresh pot of coffee for everyone.
Bella washed her hands, then sighed. Maybe she wasn't sent back to fix only her mistakes but that of others, too. Because surely, cops weren't meant to get listeria.
"Hey, kiddo. What the heck did you do?" Charlie asked with a smile.
"Dad, I just saved you and your employees from certain death, or at least listeria, or Ecoli, or some other horrific disease. The coffee pot had a quarter inch of sludge coating the bottom, and trash and muck were everywhere. Don't you guys ever clean?"
"Well, we kind of were hoping someone else would be kind enough to get to it, but you just did our jobs for us."
"I can't work in chaos, Dad."
"Understood. We'll do better. Right guys?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, Bella," the officers all replied in unison.
"Now, let's get going. Did you finish all your homework?"
"Yep, I didn't have much. I have a list of school supplies I need to purchase. I wrote everything down." Bella gave the list to Charlie.
"Alrighty, we'll pick everything up and grab dinner out tonight. I'm too tired to cook, and you've done enough cleaning. Thank you for straightening out the employee lounge."
"Straightening out? Dad, that was like fumigating and industrial sanitizing?'
Charlie chuckled at his daughter. "Okay, I'll buy you stock in Lysol, Miss Clean Freak."
"Okay, I'm going to remember what you said when I become old enough to invest in stocks."
XOXO
As soon as Bella went to her room at night, she reviewed the video that Captain Marks sent her. There was something very suspicious about the way the Cullens were watching her, especially Alice and Edward. It was as if they had been planning on targeting her.
Bella knew for sure she wasn't Edward's mate, as they had claimed. She felt absolutely zero pull towards him, and he repulsed her more than anything.
She turned on her mirror and spoke into it. "Yoohoo, Mr Aki."
"How was school today, Rocket?"
Taha Aki was dressed like a football player, complete with a helmet and padding. Clearly, he had seen the video or, more likely, witnessed it when it happened.
"That was a pretty good throw, wasn't it?"
"It was. So, how can I help you?"
"It's the Cullens. I didn't notice them today in the lunch room, but in the video of the cafeteria incident, they were staring at me. I'm pretty sure the dynamic duo were arguing about me, but I don't know why."
Taha Aki shrugged his shoulders. "They were arguing about you. You know how Alice is with her visions. She'll lie to get her own way, but when you threw that football, it was a total turn-off to Edward. He doesn't care if he can't read your mind; he won't have an unladylike woman as his mate."
"Well, that's good because I'm not his mate."
"No, you aren't. You're meant for bigger and better," Taha Aki declared.
"Okay, I'm going to choose not to dwell on that cryptic piece of information."
"I have another problem. I met Riley Biers. He's the guy Victoria—the crazy redhead changed in order to hatch her plans of vengeance."
"I know."
"Well, I don't want him to die! He's my new Physics partner."
Taha Aki huffed and rolled his eyes. "Bella, do you plan on playing baseball on a mountaintop with the Cullens?"
"Heck no!"
"Well, then, it's a non-issue. At least, I hope."
"Oh, my God! Riley's life is in my hands!" Bella cried.
"Hey, I don't have the answers to everything."
And with that, Taha Aki disappeared again. Bella decided to go to bed. She was still tired from the long road trip, and she had to wake-up early again tomorrow.