there's a possibility...

by Veg3table

Summary:

twilight if it wasn't written by a mormon. (it is slow burn tho)

i decided to use what i like from the original works and toss out what i don’t like - which is a lot because twilight is weird af but i love it with all my heart so get ready for my version of the twilight universe :) it has sort of a thriller/murder mystery vibe

Bella moves to Forks to live with her dad. Forks is the most boring place on earth until it is not.

Notes:

hi! i hope you'll enjoy reading this. english is not my first language though so i am sorry for any mistakes i'll make when writing!

Chapter 1

Everything Bella needed was in the suitcase. And the suitcase was already in the trunk. For a moment Bella looked back on her room. She was sure that she was going to miss it. Seeing the cacti right out of her window, the massive street that cars rushed down all day and night long. This was home. Here in Arizona she had spent most of her life with her mom. But now she was going to exchange the heat and the sun and the cacti for rain and trees and rain and trees only. In that last moment in her room she wasn’t sure if maybe she shouldn’t turn around, now that she still had the chance. But at the same time Bella hated the heat. It was always too hot, too bright, too loud. She didn’t like the city. 

At least in Forks she would have the possibility to start all over. She had never seemed to fit into Phoenix. Maybe Forks was where she would finally be able to be herself. Maybe it’s where she had always belonged. If her parents hadn’t divorced, maybe she would already live there. To Bella Forks seemed to be the place she should be at. Especially now, when everything had changed with her mom falling in love again. Bella also liked Phil but she didn’t like the way she always felt in the way when her mom and Phil were going on about romantic things.

For another second Bella hesitated. But she felt like it was the right thing to do. She was going to miss her mom- nothing else. And maybe living with her dad wouldn’t be too bad after all. She barely remembered him. Only from the few summers she spent with him, but at a certain point she refused to visit Forks. She thought that maybe if she were in Phoenix for the summer, she would have the chance to make friends. She didn’t make any friends. Maybe some little friendships but they always faded away quickly.

So maybe, in Forks, she would be the cool girl for once. Bella didn’t dare to hope for it, but she liked to imagine it. A little daydream playing in her head all the time, mostly during school though.

Bella sighed and took her last few things she wanted to keep: her copy of “ Romeo & Juliet ” and a potted cactus that her mom had gifted her. Bella wasn’t good with plants at all, but she didn’t want to leave it behind. Possibly the cactus would die anyway in the rain of Washington. Still, Bella didn’t dare to imagine how her mother would feel if she left the cactus behind.

One last glance at her bed, then she closed the door behind her room. Bella carefully walked down the stairs, trying not to drop the cactus or the book.

“You ready?” 

Her mom leant at the car smiling brightly. Bella wondered how her mom was able to be so happy, beaming with energy all the time. No matter how hard Bella tried, she never got to even pretending to be as happy as her mother. Not as happy, not as cool, not as full of life. Sometimes Bella thought that her mother was more a child than she was.

“As ready as can be.” Bella forced herself to smile; to match her mothers enthusiasm at least a little bit. It’s not that Bella wasn’t excited to go to Forks, but she always felt kind of out of touch with happiness. It has never been different, it has always been this way, but in the back of her mind Bella was convinced that there was something severely wrong with her. Maybe that was 

The whole ride to the airport her mom was jamming out to songs, talking about how much she was going to miss her little girl “so grown up” and reminiscing in memories from when she lived in Forks. Bella stayed quiet. In her head she was busy with making a list of possible accidents that might happen to her in the next 24 hours.

The goodbye was quick and easy. Bella wasn’t a fan of sad crying and hugging without ever letting go of another.

One last “Love you, mom.” Then Bella walked towards the security. Away from the heat into the cold. Away from the sun into the rain. (She didn’t feel as sorry or sad about it as it sounds like it here.)

Chapter 2

It obviously rained when Bella arrived in Seattle. Heavy dark rain. The sky was dark too. In the waiting area Charlie waited, his hands in his pockets. He looked out for Bella nervously. He hadn’t seen his daughter in years - especially not as a teenager. He wasn’t sure if it had been the right thing to agree with Renée to take her to Forks. He knew how much Renée hated Forks - at least it was the reason she told him she broke up with him. What if Bella was just like Renée? What if she also hated Forks? What if she would also leave him, just like Renée? Charlie told himself that he wouldn’t mind, but at his true core he felt excitement to have his daughter living with him. Over the years he missed having a family around. He wouldn’t dare to label himself as lonely but that was what every other person would probably describe him as.

When Bella recognized her dad she sped up a bit. He looked older than in her memories. Gray hairs accompanied the dark browns in his mustache and his messy hair. Charlie slightly raised his hand as if he was going to wave at Bella but decided not to at the last second.

Their first encounter after all those years was awkward. They didn’t know the agenda of a dad/teenage daughter relationship. So they just stared at each other, nodding, saying “hi.” Without knowing how to continue, how to keep up a conversation or even start one.

 

On the ride out to Forks Bella stared out of the window. The music coming from the radio was different from what her mother listened to. Charlie’s taste in music was more rock, more sad. It fitted the landscape in a way. The tall trees, a luscious green that would never be visible in Arizona, probably not even if it rained for weeks straight. Rocky formations and one lane roads. The world here seemed to be tinier, everything closer together. And at the same time everything was more apart from each other. Sometimes five miles passed by without a sign of life.

For a second Bella regretted her choice. She was going to be lonely. Just like her dad. - Wasn’t she? What had she done? She could have stayed with her mom in a city where she was surrounded by life instead of trees. Bella’s favorite color was green but now she wasn’t so sure about that anymore. It was almost like Forks was too green. And definitely too wet.

 

Forks was familiar and new for Bella at the same time. When Charlie parked the car in front of the house it felt like she had never been away but at the same time there was a certain weirdness that Bella couldn’t ignore.

Charlie took her suitcase out of the trunk. As he was chief of the local department he had a nice car with a great trunk. - At least he said that to Bella while they were making their way out of the airport. After that little conversation they mostly sat in silence. It didn’t really bother either of them but also did not make them feel very comfortable. They were family - weren’t they supposed to have something in common, something to talk about? With her mother there was never silence, not a minute, but to be fair, it was always Renée talking. Bella was a listener. Usually she was fine with that too but now she did wish she was more talkative. She had so many questions but she didn’t know what she was asking, what she wanted to know. There was so much to say, but Bella nor Charlie found words to speak.

The interior of Charlie's house was the same it had ever been. Not a picture on the wall was moved even a millimeter.

“Should I show you your room?” Charlie was still nervous. He didn’t know how to act. He had even asked one of his female friends for help when he decorated the room for Bella. He didn’t understand teenage girls or women at all - at least that’s what he always told himself.

Bella nodded.

Charlie put down Bellas suitcase on the floor next to the bed.

“Do you like the sheets?” Those he had gotten with Sue's help. She had told him that purple was what girls liked these days. And Sue had a teenage daughter - so Charlie trusted her. 

“They’re really nice. Thank you dad.” Bella smiled and touched the soft bedding.

They stood there in the room for a while. Charlie cleared his throat. “Do you want to get supper now or later?”

“I can cook for us," Bella offered. She enjoyed cooking; she cooked for herself and her mom most days.

“No need for that. I reserved a table at the diner.” Charlie put his hands into his pockets. It was like he needed that otherwise he felt like his hands were weirdly in the way - which they weren’t but to him it felt like they were. “It’s your first evening here, remember?”

Bella smiled. Now that her dad mentioned it, she remembered. Every summer she came up here the first night they would go to the diner. It was their tradition - their only one. 

“What time?” Bella longed for a few minutes just herself on the bed in silence.

“Doesn’t matter. This is Forks, don’t you remember?”

“How could I forget? Why did you reserve a table then, though?”

Charlie laughed and shrugged. For a moment he saw his little girl in the almost grown woman again.

“I’ll give you half an hour?”

Bella nodded thankfully. Charlie turned away and closed the door behind him. As he went down the stairs he had to pinch himself. This was real. Bella was up in her room. He wasn’t alone anymore.

 

The diner was unusually crowded for a Thursday night. Unusually crowded meant in Forks that there were more than three tables occupied. When Charlie and Bella entered the patio of the diner everyone turned around in their seats.

They all knew that Bella was going to live here now. It’s the only news they have had in the last few months here. Nothing happened in Forks, never in a million years. And never in a million years would anyone have thought that the daughter of Renée Dwyer would move to Forks on her own free will. - But here Bella was, in Forks again after all those years.

Everyone knew Bella, of course they did. In Forks there were nothing like strangers. Everyone knew everyone. Especially the daughter of the chief.

“Remember me?” An old man held up his beer to Bella and grinned into his cheeks. His chubby face wasn’t familiar to Bella at all. She just smiled at him, because that’s what people do, right? Nice and polite…

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” A lady stepped from behind the bar and pulled Bella into a tight hug. “Look at you. So beautiful! Bella!” Bella also didn’t remember her. But the way the lady with the long brown hair acted it seemed like they had been close - or at least closer - in the past. Her smell reminded Bella of something but she couldn’t say what it was.

Bella looked out for Charlie in need from a rescue from all the strangers to whom she wasn’t one. But he once again just stood there, his hands in his pockets. Did Charlie have any other position to rest in? Maybe this was his dad's stance ; he had years out of touch with reality to practice.

Charlie ordered for both of them because when Bella looked at the menu she was overwhelmed with what to get. It all seemed to be sort of disgusting. Nothing like the food she ate back home . But well, Forks was going to be her new home and she would try (at least once.) And in the end, she had eaten here many times before and maybe it was just a trick in her or her dad’s memories but she used to love it here. She would just need some time to fall back in love with good old Forks.

Notes:

:) I really enjoy writing Charlie's and Bellas relationship guys lol

Chapter 3

When Bella woke up the next morning the whole house smelled of burned toast. For a moment she was back in Phoenix. Her mother burned toast every second time she attempted to put a slice of bread into the toaster. She sighed and crawled out of the heavy sheets. In Phoenix Bella had only used a thin sheet, but last night at one point she wished for having even another layer.

Would Charlie expect Bella to be all dressed up before she said “good morning” or would he be weirded out by that? It was the simple questions that Bella now stumbled upon when thinking about her dad. She also wasn’t sure if she should call him dad or Charlie. When she was little he had always been dad but now it felt kind of strange. They were basically strangers only connected through some coincidence seventeen years ago where Bella got half her DNA.

It didn’t really matter what Charlie thought of her. Not to that big of an extent that would make Bella bother to change out of her comfy pajamas. It was the best thing about summer break and weekends - to sleep in and hang out in your pjs all day or at least until you had to leave the house - for whatever reason.

“Morning!” Bella avoided directly addressing her dad. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable in any way. It was nice enough of him to take her in after all these years of christmas and birthday cards. She wasn’t sure if she’d do the same.

Charlie turned around. “You’re up early.” He was already wearing his uniform.

“What time is it?” Bella rubbed her eyes. She felt like she had slept in almost all day.

“Seven thirty.” He gestured to the clock. “I thought you kids like to sleep in.” His voice was kind of rough and he coughed. Bella asked him if he was sick but he shook his head. "Nah. It’s just from smoking. Don't do it.”

“Okay.” Bella stood there in the tiny kitchen and didn’t know what to do. Charlie had his routine, he knew his life by heart. Every single day. It didn’t matter if she was here or not. She was not a part of his life. Not of his day.

They ate breakfast in silence. Luckily Charlie had bought the cereal he remembered Bella used to like, so she didn’t have to eat burned toast as well.

“I gotta work until 4 today, but I have a surprise for you then.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.” Charlie blushed. Was he ever going to not be nervous?

Bella smiled but nodded. “I wanted to try at least.”

Charlie gathered all his stuff and put the dishes into the sink. In her head Bella made a note to clean them up later. She probably would have enough time and enough boredom anyway.

“Oh and before I forget. Please promise that you won’t go out into the woods alone. Some weird stuff has been happening lately and I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay?”

“With weird stuff you mean me moving here?” - Like what else happened here? This was Forks. Bella tried to make a joke but only earned a serious look from Charlie.

“Please, Bella. It’s not funny. Take care at least until we find out more, promise. I don’t want to call your mom and tell her that you’ve died.”

Was her dad being dramatic? Or was there actually something serious going on? Bella didn’t really care. She hadn’t planned on leaving the house anyway.

“Understood.” Bella nodded. “Have fun at work, dad.” Now she blushed. It was weird to call him dad but at the same time she felt like  he was her dad after all. He cared for her, now. Maybe he had always cared for her without her realizing. And it felt nice to show him some affection. Bella knew that life had been hard on Charlie, and one didn’t even have to know his life story. One could see it in his eyes and the way he walked through the world. And Bella felt sorry for him; because with all the time that has passed by she realized she was part of the reason why.

WIth the house empty Bella felt like a stranger again. The moment had slipped away as quickly as the affection had entered. Up in her room she grabbed her copy of “ Romeo & Juliet ” to read it once again. She had a whole day to get to pass away before all. And she didn’t want to spend it wondering what surprise Charlie might have planned for her.

Chapter 4

In the afternoon they drove out of Forks. The sad rock music dancing into the air and Charlie's humming brought back memories in Bella that she didn't know she had kept. It was raining, once again.

"You're not kidnapping me, right?"

Like in the morning, Charlie gave her a serious glance.

"Nope. Wouldn't look good on my record." He drove focused on the road, his eyes scanning the surroundings like at any moment a danger could appear out of the trees.

"That's the only reason?" Bella grinned.

"I am not as bad as your mother told you I was." Charlie swallowed; he grabbed the wheel tighter.

"Mom didn't tell me you're bad." Bella looked at her dad. Wondering what he was thinking had happened. Did he really think Bella stopped seeing him because of her mom?

"In fact she didn't talk about you at all."

Charlie glanced at Bella but she stared out of the window again. The trees rushed by, the raindrops raced down the window. He wanted to say something else but couldn't think of anything that didn't sound embarrassing. He didn't want to be pitied by his teenage daughter. The daughter of the only girl he had only ever truly loved. He would never tell Bella or anyone but he still was aching, longing for Renée's company. And she didn't even talk about him anymore. Not that he talked about her, but he thought of her every day. Every spot in Forks was annotated with memories of his love for Renée.

When they drove into the pathway leading to a lonely house, Bella wasn’t so sure anymore whether she should believe Charlie about the kidnapping or not. The house looked like it just needed a blow of wind to be carried away in all its little pieces. In fact parts of the porch were already looking rotten.

Charlie noticed Bellas confusion.

“I promise, I am not kidnapping you.” He chuckled. “This is just Billy’s house. They’ve been doing him dirty.”

Was Bella supposed to know who Billy was? She couldn’t remember anything. Why couldn’t she remember anything? She must have been here before, otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense at all that Charlie seemed to imply that Bella knew what was going on with Billy.

The ground around the house was very muddy and old car or motorbike pieces were scattered around everywhere. Charlie went up to the door to ring but Bella decided to inspect the pieces of old metal. She didn’t know much about cars so she couldn’t identify anything but she did prefer that over ringing at some apparently not stranger’s door.

“Bella?”

A man around the same age as Charlie had gotten out on the porch in his wheelchair. He had long dark hair and multiple scars in his face. When Bella turned around he took his hat off to greet her. Bella waved, still not sure what to do. But standing frozen next to the car was probably not the thing to do so she joined Charlie and Billy.

“You want a beer?” Billy asked Charlie, a playful grin on his face. Charlie nodded. Billy already wanted to turn to the door again, but then he remembered. “I’m going to tell Jake to come out - if I can find him.”

Charlie nodded again. His mouth was straight, maybe it was just his mustache that made it appear like that.

Billy returned with two cans of beer. “Sorry Bella, couldn’t find him.”

Bella was about to say that it was alright - she didn’t know who Jake was anyway? - when a boy ran towards the house. Just like Billy he had dark long hair, his though was a bit shorter than Billy’s.

He pulled Bella into a hug immediately, but when he realized how uncomfortable she was with that he took a step back.

“Where the hell have you been loca?” He grinned, his eyes shining even though there were only clouds in the sky.

“I am so sorry” Bella tried not to laugh but she really didn’t know what to do or say.

“Come on, I’m Jake - Jacob? - we made mud cakes and stuff like that together.”

“Oh yeah - now I remember.”

“No you don’t.” Jacob laughs. “But it’s alright. If I were from a big city like Phoenix I probably wouldn’t remember the kid I used to play with during summer either.”

Thankfully Bella smiled.

“Hey kid.” Charlie gave Jacob a fist bump - he had learnt from Billy that this is what the boys do these days. “You’re ready to show Bella the big surprise?”

“Of course, of course.” Jacob smiled again.

“I’ll wait here” Billy claims and holds up another beer. “But you got to tell me everything about her reaction.”

“Obviously.” Another laugh from Jacob. It was like he was the sunny boy of the little boy/man trio Bella suddenly found herself in. They all had planned the surprise together - apparently really was a big deal.

They went around the house to a smaller house that looked more like a cabin or shed.

“Close your eyes, Bella.” Jacob took Bella’s hand. Careful not to stumble she reached out with her other hand too which made Jacob and Charlie laugh. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. Really.”

To Bella it felt like they were walking miles with her eyes closed.

“Okay. Now. In three you can open your eyes.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

Bella opened her eyes.

Right in front of her was a red Chevy pick-up truck. An old red Chevy pick-up truck. This was Bella’s dream car ever since she had gotten her license - no, ever since she had been able to differentiate cars. Her jaw dropped.

“Wow, uhm.” She looked at Jacob then at Charlie. “This is amazing, like really? Is this the surprise?”

Jacob laughed. “No, we’re just showing you the car I’ve been working on for the last month because you’re so interested in cars.”

Bella rolled her eyes. Then she gasped again. “Wait, you made this car?”

“No, not really. I just fixed it.”

“Wow, that’s crazy. Isn’t that super hard?”

Jacob shrugged. “It’s actually pretty relaxing. It’s cool to do something with your hands. And cars and stuff are things to get a lot out of, you know.”

“How much do I owe you for this?”

“It’s from me.” Charlie rejoined the conversation - for a second Bella had forgotten he was even with them. But there he was - his hands in the pockets again.

“Thank you so much, dad.” Bella had an urge to hug Charlie but everything in his body language screamed that he wouldn’t know how to handle that at all. “And thank you so much, Jacob.” She turned back to Jacob who grinned from cheek to cheek.

“You’re so welcome, Bella.”

 

They spent the evening with Billy and Jacob. When it was already dark outside they drove back to Forks, this time tough with each their separate cars. In that pick up truck Bella felt badass, like the whole world was now open to her (even though she had moved from Phoenix to Forks literally a day ago?). The radio was a bit old and the sound was bad but it didn’t matter to her. It was cool enough to have your own car. She never dreamed of actually having her own pick-up truck. And also not the classic red one. She felt like maybe Forks really was where she was supposed to be. Even if she still felt like a stranger, that feeling probably would not stay forever.

Notes:

where the hell have y'all been locas??? :)

Chapter 5

Summer ended eventually. Well, if there had been a summer in Forks it would have ended, but surprisingly it was still the same. The same rain, the same clouds. On her first day at school Bella was nervous and chill at the same time. It couldn’t get worse than Phoenix, could it? It was a new beginning, after all. And new beginnings usually start out being fine, maybe even exciting.

 

During the first period Bella had to go to the office to get signed into classes. The office was almost empty when she slid through the heavy door. Only one girl sat in the corner looking up when she heard the door. She had short dark hair and pale skin. By her clothes Bella immediately recognized her as one of the “cool” girls. So, she sat down next to the girl (because it was the only empty seat) and tried to seem as occupied with her own thoughts as possible. Which wasn’t exactly hard because all Bella tried was to calm down her heartbeat and suppress the urge to stare at that girl forever.

Simply the short glance she remembered in her brain and the fact that she could smell the girl’s perfume made Bella feel even more nervous than she had ever felt at her old high school. Back there were no girls that were as pretty as that girl.

“Sorry if this is weird, but you smell really good.”

Bella felt like her heart stopped for a second. The girl had spoken to her, right? There was no one else here whom she could have meant. Blood rushed into Bellas cheeks.

“Oh, uhm, thank you.”

She tried to look into the girl’s eyes but it just didn’t feel possible. Bella was too nervous. She had never been complimented on anything about her outer appearance before. How was she supposed to react to a compliment like this?

“You’re the new girl, right?” The girl leaned over the armrest of her chair, looking at Bella with a bright smile. Up close Bella noticed the freckles scarred all around her cheeks.

“ The new girl?” Bella made a sound that didn’t sound exactly like a laugh and for a second she contemplated running out of the office.

“Bella, right?”

“Yeah. But how do you know?”

“Everybody knows. Because who the fuck moves to Forks?” The girl smiled again.

“Me?” Bella shrugged but also smiled. The girl’s happiness was infectious in a way.

“Don’t worry though. I also once was the new girl. My family moved here a few years ago. Everyone knew us.”

“Yeah I guess that's Forks.” Bella didn’t really know what to say after that so she started to fumble with the seam of her flannel.

“Oh, I’m Alice by the way.” The girl smiled again, Bella smiled back. While Bella still searched her mind for something smart or interesting to say Alice got called into the office. And Bella was left again on her own. Now; more nervous than chill.

The course selection was tricky. Most of the classes that Bella was interested in were already full and the ones that she ended up in were the ones she had already taken in Junior year. After some discussion she managed to switch from P.E. into theater at least, which wasn’t that much of a win but at least she wouldn’t have to survive another year of volleyball or all the other games that involved way too much running. Bella had never done anything with drama or theater in her life but she remembered that back in Phoenix the theater kids were the ones that held together the most and because of that were usually ignored by the cool kids/bullies. And nothing could be worse than P.E. anyway.

Notes:

i'm sorry that this is once again a very short chapter.

Chapter 6

The first class Bella went to was bio. It was the last period before lunch break so she entered the class room filled with hope to maybe meet some people she could hang out with during break. She wasn’t too hopeful but at least a little spark of hope remained.

Right at the door she stumbled into a guy who immediately apologized and he barely looked at her, his only goal to get one of the good seats. - Which was quite an important mission to have on the first day of class but one that Bella didn’t realize was necessary. She had always been used to sitting alone and minding her own business.

Things were different in Forks though. Everyone sat in pairs at the lab desks. And the last empty seat was next to a guy that was conventionally very attractive - not in Bella’s eyes but probably in everyone else's. He had a very athletic posture and golden hair cut in a timeless style. It was almost like he was out of a different time. He sat in the aisle seat so Bella had to scooch behind him to get to her seat. She apologized quickly but he didn’t give any response in any way to Bella’s presence. Bella sat down and after she had taken all her things out of her backpack she tried to only focus on the teacher’s safety lecture.

However it was hard to focus on a lecture when the person sitting next to Bella was constantly giving her the feeling of taking up too much space or spelling. The guy moved away from Bella everytime she only moved the slightest bit, making sure that their bodies would not ever touch.

Bella was used to not being liked by her peers but someone acting the same way this guy did she had never experienced before. Was she too weird or was it him?

In her mind she went through things to say but in the end she stayed quiet. She didn’t want to begin a feud on the first day of school with someone she’d have to sit and work with for the whole year. Bella tried to tell herself that the guy was overreacting but still she checked if she smelled sweaty - which she didn’t.

She also was confused because hadn’t Alice just complimented her smell a few moments ago? Maybe it wasn’t a compliment after all, maybe a hint in disguise? Bella sighed and took out a pen to doodle on her notebook. She had heard the same safety instruction every single year so it wouldn’t be too bad if she missed a few details. Nothing ever happened in a bio lesson.

When biology was finally over Bella couldn’t wait to get away from that arrogant guy. She went straight into the cafeteria hoping that she would maybe find Alice there. Alice had been the only and first person that Bella had spoken to.

But when Bella entered the cafeteria she realized that it would be impossible to find Alice. The whole room was tiny but so crowded that it was hard to make out any faces. Especially not Alice's face which Bella barely remembered. The only thing she remembered about Alice was how pretty she was.

As Bella stood right in the doorway many people walked into her. She apologized to all of them until a girl stopped next to her. She wore glasses and her long brown hair tied up into a ponytail and smiled at Bella brightly.

“Hey, you want to sit with me and my friends?”

“Uhm, yeah. Sure.” Bella smiled back at her. “Thank you so much.”

Bella wasn’t sure how much she should add. Maybe this girl didn’t want to be friends, maybe she was just a nice person. She didn’t have to listen to Bella’s rambling, right?

“So, I’m Jessica but everyone calls me Jess. Please never call me Jessica, okay?” Jessica navigated Bella through the cafeteria as if it was her living room.

Bella nodded. “Noted. I'm Bella.”

“I know sweetheart.” Jess smiled again.

“Everyone knows, don’t they?”

Jess nodded. “Jup.”

Bella sighed. “Okay, I’ll get used to it.”

Jess laughed.

When they sat down at the table which luckily was in a surprisingly less crowded part of the cafeteria that Bella didn’t expect to even exist, Jess introduced everyone to Bella. Mike - the guy that had run into Bella at the beginning of biology - now smiled at her shyly. Erica immediately started asking Bella about why the hell one would ever move out of a city to the end of the world aka Forks.

“I mean, my dad lives here and likes it.” Bella shrugged. She didn’t want to explain her backstory. It was too much to talk about on a first day, probably even a normal conversation. Bella didn’t even understand everything herself - only that she had to get out of Phoenix. Otherwise she felt like she was going to die a slow but sure death.

“But your dad is your dad, you know?” Erica leaned over and glared at Bella with an expression Bella wasn’t sure she read right.

“Yeah, I know.” Bella laughed and Jess joined in.

“Forks is not too bad, I think.” Mike leaned over too.

“You only say that because you love hiking and trees.” Erica rolled her eyes and Jess laughed again.

“Hiking is cool.” Bella said which made Mike smile.

“We could go on a hike together!” he suggested.

“That’d be nice.” Bella smiled and Mike blushed. Erica and Jess exchanged a glance before Erica explained why she would not ever join Bella and Mike - which didn’t seem to bother either of them anyway.

They ate their lunch while talking about their classes and teachers when Erica suddenly punched Jess into her side.

“Oh god, Jess.” Her voice was extremely high.

Jess was right in between bites but immediately started looking out for whoever Erica was amazed by. It was the guy from biology.

“Really?” Bella raised an eyebrow after she followed Jess’ and Erica’s gaze. “That dude was totally disrespectful to me in bio. Totally an asshole.”

Erica shrugged. “I know. But look at him - he’s hot. And he’s Edward Cullen.”

“You already hear from his name that he sucks.” Mike laughed and Bella smiled in agreement. 

“All the Cullen’s are hot.” Jess explained.

Behind Edward followed a tall girl with long blonde curls and as pale skin as Edward. After that came two boys - one very muscular and one very small. And after them was Alice. She was the smallest of the group but also the most elegant. The way she walked resembled more dancing than actual walking.

“The Cullen’s?” Bella asked. “Are they all related?”

Erica nodded. “The Cullen siblings as I like to call them. They always stick together.”

“But they don’t look alike at all?”

Now though Bella knew she questioned Alice’s compliment even more. If Edward was her brother and she only seemed to hang out with him and her other siblings, her opinions would probably not be much different-

“I think they’re adopted. I mean, their mom would have had to have quintuplets if it were to make sense in any biological way.”

“Okay yeah, makes sense.” Bella nodded and turned back to her food again.

She had hoped that maybe she’d be able to get to know Alice better but now it seemed impossible. 

Chapter 7

The first thing that Bella felt when she got home that evening was confusion. Charlie was still at work, he would only return in two hours. So with the whole house empty Bella sat down on the small sofa in the living room. She turned on the TV, maybe it could distract the anxiety away, out of her stomach.

Bella didn’t know what to think or feel. Only her chest felt weirdly tight - in a way that Bella remembered all too well. But this was the first day back at school - or at a new school. Both at the same time. It was normal that she was anxious. Bella tried to calm herself down with some breathing exercises but nothing worked. She switched through the channels. The few seconds she grasped of every airing show spiraling her down even more in her feeling of loss of control.

Bella could not get Alice out of her head. It was as if Alice had planted a seed in her brain and slowly the flower started growing. It drove Bella crazy. She didn’t want to think about Alice. - For once, had they barely spoken and even though Bella was ashamed of that reason, did she feel intimidated by Edwards asshole behavior.

Without turning the TV off Bella went into the kitchen to make some tea. The show turned into ambient background noise and slowly Bella felt herself relaxing. 

Until, suddenly, the show was interrupted by an alarm sound.

“Please excuse the interruption, but these are important and concerning news that we all should be aware of. Just a few moments ago there was a mass murder attempt in downtown Seattle.” - At the mention of Seattle Bella rushed back to the TV. Blurry phone videos full of people screaming covered the screen.

“Everything so far is very unclear - such as weapons, perpetrators or motives. All we know is that there is a large group of injured and as of now four people have died. The police advise everyone in and around Seattle to stay away from public places and even stay at home if possible.”

A moment of silence. Bella stared at the TV unable to pull her eyes away from the horrific images filled with people bleeding.

“We’ll keep you updated on anything happening. Please stay calm and safe.”

The screen flashed and then the episode of the sitcom was on again. Bella turned off the TV. Seattle was so close. It was not like she believed that anything like this would happen in Forks. But if she were in Phoenix Seattle would have seemed so far away, another world basically. And now, the perpetrators - the murders - were not even a state away. Back in Phoenix Bella had been most afraid of school shootings, or school in general - but this fear that was crawling up her spine was nothing like it. It was like there was a whole new level of fear that Bella hadn’t unlocked yet, that she now had.

Was this what Charlie had meant when he warned her about the woods? Were there murderers everywhere in Washington? Was she just trying to trick herself into false confidence by telling herself that nothing like a bloodbath mass murder would happen in Forks - ever?

Bella went up into her room and wrapped her blanket around her body. She sat down at her desk and took out her laptop. She didn’t want to upset herself even more but she couldn’t help but look up more about the attack. She was pulled into it, like a tornado, like a spiral. She scrolled through the articles, but they all said the same things. There was nothing anybody knew.

 

Charlie came home later than he should have. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was all messy.

“Hey Kiddo." He greeted Bella with a tired nod and lay down on the couch.

“I made supper.” Bella took two plates with potato pie and put them down on the table.

“Thank you.” Charlie smiled but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He got up and went into his room to switch into comfier clothes.

“You had lots to do with Seattle?” Bella asked after a while of eating in silence.

“Unfortunately. It’s a disaster. Everyone is upset, raging crazy.” Charlie sighed. “People have been calling all afternoon.”

“Why though?”

“I dunno, kiddo. I mean, I am upset too, but at least I do know that Seattle is not right next to Forks. So people being gone for an hour doesn’t mean they were attacked.” He shrugged.

“People think that?”

Charlie nodded. “Of course, I don’t want to say their concern is silly because this could happen everywhere. And I worry too. But Forks is less likely. Which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be careful.”

Bella nodded. “No going into the woods alone.”

Charlie grinned. “You know it.”

 “Anyways, how was school?” Charlie got up for a beer and came back with a coke for Bella as well.

"Alright. It’s school, you know?” Bella shrugged.

“Yeah… I know.” Charlie smiled. “But is Mr Snolly still there?”

“Mr Who?"

Charlie laughed. “No one. It was a joke back when I was there. Mr Snolly was supposed to be a ghost or something like that.”

“I have not encountered him yet.”

“Then you never will, I suppose. Maybe he only greets the 9th grade students…” Charlie shrugged.

“Great, dad. You do know I used to be scared of ghosts.” Bella laughed.

“I just wanted to see if Mr Snolly was still there, okay? You are the one I could ask without seeming crazy! Everyone else here my age has met him too when they got into Forks High School.”

“Sure.” Bella shook her head and Charlie laughed.

"I promise, I am not going crazy, okay?!"

Chapter 8

The number one topic at Forks High School the next day was the murder in Seattle. It was not like anyone knew any new information, everything was still a mystery. No news. Nothing. And maybe that was the reason everyone felt the need to talk about it.

Some were scared. Some freaked out. Some were weirdly interested. Constantly people made up new theories. This was the end of the world, the end of the United States. It was all crazy. Some were shocked that this kind of reaction never followed the almost daily crimes committed.

Bella tried not to listen to most of the theories she heard in the hallway. She could easily get lost in her thought spirals and she didn’t want that. Too many things were going on in her life right now anyway. She wanted to know about the attack but at the same time it was no use to discuss empty theories.

 

Over the week the discussion died. There was still no information, no hints nor proofs. It was pointless. And so the theories died and with them life in Forks got back normal. Bella was overwhelmed at the end of the week from all the new impressions. New people, new classrooms, new classes.

Drama turned out to be a special class for her. Not only because Bella wasn’t the biggest fan of standing in the spotlight and doing things she wouldn’t usually do, but also because Alice was also in Drama. But Alice did not come to class once that week. At first Bella didn’t really care, she was even a little glad that she was not going to embarrass herself in front of Alice on those first days but when Alice still wasn’t at school on Friday Bella began to wonder. Maybe Alice had some illness and therefore she wasn’t able to come to school often? Maybe that was why she had been in the office the first day of school? Or maybe Alice was just one of these kids who skipped school at any possibility.

The only thing that made the situation even more suspicious was that also all of Alice’s siblings were missing school. Jess and Mike had already made up the theory that they just decided to join a cult so they wouldn't have to go school anymore as they were so much better than everyone else in Forks, but deep down in her stomach Bella had the feeling that something was wrong with the Cullens. She couldn’t tell why, but she felt like the siblings were people who genuinely tried to be good at school. That impression she had only gotten from Edward, and he was an asshole, but he was so ambitious that Bella thought the same of the rest of the siblings. Maybe their adoptive parents had very high standards for their precious bundles of joy?

Bella hated that she spent so much time thinking about the Cullens. But every time she walked down the hallway at school or drove to the grocery store in “downtown” Forks, she looked out for Alice. 

Over the weekend she tried to forget her. Charlie went fishing with Billy and another friend, so Bella was alone. She didn’t feel lonely, she was used to it. Her mom always went out on the weekend, but Bella had never been the one to party. She enjoyed staying up late watching TV or reading. Only at one point she thought about Jess and that maybe she could have asked her and the others to hang out, but in the end she was glad to have the weekend to herself.

Chapter 9

The Cullens returned a week later. When they entered the cafeteria together every single conversation stopped. There was something about them that Bella couldn’t name that made you hold your breath and feel your heart beating in your chest. - Or maybe it was just Bella feeling that way? Jess stared at Edward who stared back at her without any reaction.

Bella couldn’t stop looking at Alice. Over the whole lunch she couldn’t take her eyes away from her back. It was too bad that Bella and Jess had switched places today otherwise she would have been able to catch Alice’s side profile.

At one point the others noticed that Bella was glued to Alice. Mike tapped her on the shoulder.

“You okay, Bella?”

Bella shook her head. She blinked then started laughing. “Yeah? Why?”

“You’re looking at Alice like she’ll kill you or something?”

“I mean she’s kinda weird but I don’t believe she kills people?” Jess laughed.

“But, see what I think?” Mike took a dramatic pause before he continued: “The Cullens were gone while everything happened with Seattle and now that it’s out of the news, they’re back. What if it’s all related?”

Bella gave Mike a warning side eye. “That’s absolutely weird, man.”

“It is a conclusion that makes sense, doesn’t it?” Mike shrugged, waiting for the other’s approval.

“No dude.” Jess shook her head. “You say weird shit sometimes, but I think this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“Like you’re basically accusing them of mass murder? Only because they’re hotter than you?” Erica raised her eyebrow and took a sip of her smoothie. “I’m sorry Mike, but…”

“Okay, fine.” Mike sighed and got up from his chair. “I’ll see you around.”

The girls nodded.

“Well, that was weird”, Jessica whispered when Mike was out of sight. Erica nodded enthusiastically.

“Sometimes I forget how small his ego and how desperate his masculinity is.” She laughed.

“That sounds really really bad.”

“I mean he’s so jealous because everyone keeps wanting Edward even though we’ve all been resented by him.” Erica leaned over. “I think Mike also has a massive crush on you, Bella, so… You know?”

“That doesn’t make it any less weird” Jess laughed and Bella nodded.

“Also too bad that I’m not into guys.” Bella shrugged and smiled.

“Good for you, one less heart getting broken by Edward. Sometimes I also wish I wasn’t into dudes. Especially not hot ones. They are all assholes.” Erica sighed.

“And I wish I wasn’t into pretty girls. That would make me waaay less nervous.”

Jess and Erica laughed. 

“It’s hard existing in a world of hot people.”

 

Now that Alice was back in school and therefore also back in drama class, Bella suddenly felt self conscious again while doing all the silly but fun acting exercises. Over the last couple classes she lost some of her awkwardness when realizing that no one actually cared about it - and the only way they all cared was to have fun and support each other.

But in comparison to Alice Bella felt like she was clumsy and horrible at any kind of movement. Everything that Alice did - seemed to cast spells on Bella. She couldn’t stop smiling every time it was Alice’s turn doing a scene. It was even worse when they had to do exercises in pairs, and sometimes they had to stare into each other's eyes while reciting lines and to Bella it felt like Alice stared into her soul.

“Are you okay, Bella?” Alice was so close to Bella that Bella thought she might have a heart attack. Afterall she couldn’t think of anything else. There was nothing in her head that she could say.

“Yeah?” Bella felt her hands sweating and rubbed them on her pants. This was too embarrassing.

“You look a bit stressed.” Alice smiled genuinely.

“No, I’m fine.” Bella tried to smile as well, but her smile was probably more of a horrific grin. She stopped smiling.

“I’m glad.”

They looked into each other's eyes until the teacher finally called off the exercise and sent the students into break. Bella immediately went to get her bag. Maybe her reaction was a bit extreme but she felt like she was going to die if she didn’t get away from Alice as fast as possible. She shouldn’t feel this way. No one should make her feel that way, right? This wasn’t normal. She had never felt this way before. Not a single person she had ever met made her this nervous. - And that truly had to mean something because Bella was nervous about every single thing in life.

Bella went into the washroom and splashed cold water onto her face. She had to shake off this feeling, this sensation. When a group of girls entered the bathroom she tried to calm her breath by staring at herself in the grainy and foggy mirror that probably hadn’t been clean a day since being installed. She wasn’t going to freak out because of Alice. It was totally normal that having a crush on someone felt this way, right? Right? - But at the same time, Bella stumbled upon her own thoughts: did she really have a crush on Alice? She remembered how her other crushes had felt, and they had never made her want to run to the washroom and hide. She shook her head and left the bathroom.

Only to find Alice waiting in front of the bathroom.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Bella? You look a bit sick. And you went off immediately after class, so I just wanted to check that you’re okay!”

“I promise, I am fine Alice. Just,…life?" Bella laughed awkwardly. She already regretted even making that joke.

“I know it can be tough to move schools.” Alice nodded. “If you ever feel like talking, just come up to me, okay? I’m here for you, and you know, everyone else here doesn’t seem to understand what it’s like to be new. So…"

“Thank you. That’s really nice of you, Alice.” Bella smiled.

“I really mean it.” Alice reached out with her hand, but before she could touch Bella she moved back. “I’ll see you around, well, tomorrow.” She laughed and turned around before Bella could say anything else.

And so Bella was left standing in the hallway and her heart was pounding in her chest - so fast it felt unreal. Maybe she did have a crush on Alice? Or was she just excited to meet people who were nice without the intention of bullying and stamping you into the ground for simply existing?

Chapter 10

“Hi, Bella”.

“Hi, Alice.” Bella waved at her, hoping that she didn’t make it awkward. She looked back down on her phone. There had been another body in Seattle, found just this morning. Bella scrolled through the article, published five minutes ago, skimming for information. She was seeking reassurance that there was no reason to freak out, but to be completely honest, she wasn’t sure if the article helped that in any way.

Alice stopped next to her and leaned against the little wall next to the school’s entrance.

“What are you looking at?” She asked, trying to get a peek of Bellas screen.

“Just this new body found in Seattle. It’s…” Bella shrugged. She didn’t really want to admit to Alice how she felt about it. She felt silly. People were murdered everyday, there were reports everyday, why did she suddenly care so much about it?

Alice nodded but didn’t say anything. Her face was free from any emotion. Bella wondered for a second if maybe Mike was right, but then she shook her head. That was such a stupid thought, she wanted to hit herself for even considering it a second. 

“I am kind of addicted to these articles. It’s silly. I should stop reading them.” Bella shook her head again and put her phone in her bag. “How are you doing this beautiful morning?” (It was raining crazy, but at this point after having lived in Forks for almost a month now, Bella didn’t care about staying dry anymore.)

“I’m fine, thank you.” Alice smiled coldly. Bella immediately jumped to questioning her behaviour at Alice’s sudden change of tone. Did she offend Alice in any way? She could find anything in their conversation that seemed offensive but  Bella felt the need to check.

“How about you, Bella?” Alice’s smiley tone was back. “Are you feeling better?”

“Oh yeah, well. Definitely better.” Bella nodded. She felt very stupid. “Uhm, I think I have got to go to class.” - Bio. She sighed. She didn’t want to sit next to Edward again. And right now she also felt like running away from Alice. It was ironic, running from one of the Cullen’s to the next? Maybe Bella should run back to Phoenix. Running away from any minor problem, but then she would have to run somewhere else. (Phoenix was full of problems, which was a reason for coming to Forks which seemed to collect problems like game tokens now) And the next problem was that Bella hated running, so no running away from problems. Only from one Cullen to the other.

“Okay, I’ll see you around.” Alice smiled and started to skip up the stairs. Maybe Bella had misinterpreted her tone. Alice seemed as always now. She took her backpack and followed Alice, her mind still buzzing with confusion about basically everything, or to be more specific: Alice and the new murder. Bella really had to force herself to not check her phone again for updates; to not search for images of the body. She had already seen too many videos of the mass murder but it was like she couldn’t get enough. The more she dug into the topic, into the articles and new reports, the more she got pulled into the loop of researching and thinking.

The weirdest thing about it all, which possibly was the reason Bella was so fascinated, was that there were no clues at all who might be the person or group behind all the deaths. There was nothing to be found in autopsies, there was no evidence on the bodies or the surroundings. It almost seemed like all the people died from nothing - if it wasn’t for all the blood.

It really felt like her phone was about to catch fire in her backpack if Bella didn’t check it, but she was able to ignore it now. There weren’t going to be any new hints or details until afternoon, or maybe never. If it was like the other deaths. The bodies were too destroyed by all the people that it was impossible to examine anything, that was what they announced yesterday. Bella tried really hard to get her thoughts on a different lane, a new topic would be perfectly welcome. It didn’t work.

 

She slid onto her seat in biology at the last minute before the lesson started. Edward was already there, all his utensils lined up in strict order (so it seemed) on his side of the desk. He did this everyday, clearly separating his sphere from Bella’s. Bella thought it was extremely dumb and had thought of a million things to say that would potentially provoke Edward. She hated being ignored, she didn’t want to sit in silence for all classes this year; it was so crazy uncomfortable. In one class while they were supposed to work as lab partners and Edward only spoke when asked the most direct question Bella considered screaming out loud to get out of this misery. But she decided that this might have been too dramatic, so she stayed quiet. But today, things were different.

Edward leaned over - into Bella’s sphere.

“Why did you talk to my sister?” His voice was deep and quiet. And creepy. Just as creepy as the simple fact that he was asking this.

“Why are you asking me that?” Bella squinted her eyes. She hated men that felt the need to interrogate everything in a woman’s life only because they were close to her.

“Because you’re here, right now? I don’t see my sister around.” He demonstratively glanced around the room.

“Well, it isn’t of any importance. Especially not for you. Not your business.”

“Are you sure?”

Bella would have started laughing, right into his face, if it wasn’t for his dark eyes, that stared at her and judged her trying so hard to intimidate it. Unfortunately, Edward in his creepy behaviour really was intimidating and Bella leaned away.

“Promise.” She rolled her eyes and took out her notepad. This was totally crazy. Edward was totally crazy. How did all the girls at school have a crush on him? Maybe they believed they could fix him, Bella thought and shook her head. Edward was still staring at her. His breathing was suddenly really noticeable to Bella. It was so loud, how had she been able to not be annoyed by it for the past weeks? Or was he breathing extra loud to provoke her?

“We literally have drama together. Stop being such a controlling jerk, Edward. You got nothing to worry about.” Bella snapped.

“Good to know.” Edward's voice was calm now. Bella gave him a last confused glance then decided to ignore Edward for the rest of the lesson. Or maybe forever.

When class was over Bella felt like she had never felt such relief before. About 24 hours without sitting this close to Edward Crazy Cullen sounded like a vacation. And felt like it too.

In the cafeteria she looked out for Erica, Jess and Mike and found them still standing in line for their food. They waved her over and she squeezed through the other students. As she finally stood next to her friends, she started rambling about how much she hated Edward.

“Like, literally, bio used to be one of my favorite classes but he makes it an absolute horror to live through.” She gestured with her hands and Mike laughed.

“That all just makes him even more bad boy, I guess.” Erica shrugged.

“He talked to me today, for I think the first time.”

“Wow, that's good!” Erica's jaw dropped for a second, when she realized it she closed her mouth again, blushing. “He never talks to anyone.”

“You're special, Bella!” Jess laughed and gave Erica a warning glance.

“I would have given everything to not talk to him. He already is creepy when he's silent. But he asked me, and I am still not over it, why I was talking to his sister.” Bella looked at her friends. She shook her head.

“Maybe he cares for her. I think that's sweet.” Erica shrugged and smiled.

“You're crazy, Erica.” Bella laughed. She wasn't sure why she was laughing but it just happened.

“You're way into him. This should be studied. Do you want him sneaking around every corner too because that's sweet?” Mike said, looking at Erica, examining every inch of her face for a reaction.

“I am beginning to worry about you.” Jess said, touching Erica's back.

“I’m fine, you all. Don't think about it too hard. I know I don't have any chance with him anyway!” She laughed.

“And that's good.” Bella crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Really, good.”

“I agree.” Mike nodded.

Erica sighed and turned her back to them to study today's meal plan. “I also am not mad at you, if you're thinking that. I am just reliving 9th grade me’s pain for a second.”

“She's not fine.” Jess whispered into Bella's ear and giggled.

“I heard that.” Erica tried to make her voice sound cold but then she bursted into laughter.

“Can you please calm down, I don’t get any of this anymore.” Mike declared. He held onto his backpack straps as if they were his lifeline. Just as Bella disliked Edward Cullen, Mike disliked Edward Cullen talk. It really didn’t make sense to him at all how someone who was like Edward, behaved like Edward and carried himself like Edward, how someone this arrogant and cold was still the whole school’s number one guy. How was Edward Cullen everyone’s crush? When they could have (well, we don’t want to make Mike a selfish brat, but…) him, Mike? He thought of himself as a caring and kind guy, which would first make him a good boyfriend to begin with but secondly and maybe more importantly were two traits Edward Cullen did not possess. But no one seemed to notice him. Not in that way anyway.

While they were having lunch Bella tried to bring up the topic of the murder but neither Jess, Erica or Mike seemed to care. They made jokes about big cities and how they would never move there now because who wants to get murdered? Jokes how Forks was the most boring place on earth, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing (Mike’s opinion). Bella tried to laugh with them, to loosen up about the topic. But after Charlie’s warnings and his stress this morning after he got the first call, it was hard for her to shake off the feeling that something big was happening, and that it was very dangerous.

Chapter 11

Finally at home, tired and exhausted, Bella immediately fell onto the couch and turned on the TV. She was sick of reading articles. To be exact she was also sick of thinking about the murder topic in general. But still she found herself zipping through the channels looking for any airing newscast, even though she first had intended to watch a movie or a stupid sitcom to unwind. When eventually Bella didn’t find anything she turned off the TV and went up into her room. She had to do some homework anyway.

Instead of sitting down at her desk Bella lay down on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling’s white paint. Procrastination. Her eyes were about to close, she almost falling asleep when she got up again. Out of her backpack she pulled her notepads and lots of crumpled paper. She was not the most organized girl and this was one of the moments she realized it again. She opened her laptop to put on her study playlist, everything was needed, she wanted to really focus this time.

But right when she took her pen, ready to put down some notes while going through the last lessons’ pages, her phone rang.

Charlie/Dad. (Bella still didn’t know how to name his contact, everything felt wrong and right.)

“What’s up?” Bella tried to sound casual but she guessed that Charlie calling directly from work didn’t mean something good.

“Well, I…” There was a minute of silence on the end of the line, Charlie searching for the right way to put things into words.

“We found another body. I am not telling you this to worry you…” Charlie cleared his throat.

“Wait, we means you and your team, right?”

“Yup. Well, we don’t know much yet, but I guess I called to tell you that it’ll probably be a long shift tonight.”

Bella nodded, a little disappointed. She wished that Charlie would give her some details, he had noticed how much the recent events had pulled her into them. “I’ll leave you some supper?”

“That would be great, thank you. But also, and I am sorry I am being so persistent with it, promise me again that you won’t go into the woods.” Charlie chuckled but at the same time it was obvious he was anxious.

Bella promised again, this time though she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She had already understood it the first time.

“Okay, I think I got to get…”

“Be careful, dad” Bella said but Charlie had already hung up the phone.

—-

It was dark outside and the house was empty and quiet. Bella sat at the kitchen table scrolling on her phone while eating her pasta. It was already ten and Charlie still wasn’t home. Usually a long night meant that Charlie was home a tad later than his scheduled six pm. But tonight?

Bella didn’t want to admit that she did feel intimidated. The quietness of the house seemed to become louder the longer she sat there. The only thing she heard was the trees’ branches brushing against the house in the wind. Occasionally a car drove by at full speed. Then the splash of the water being thrown into the air was another sound. But the house, everything directly surrounding Bella was dead quiet.

It wasn’t like Bella hadn’t considered putting on some music or the TV. She had tried it out. But then she felt even more uneasy, listening for everything, every little sound. She even got scared while she was cooking because she dropped a spoon into the sink. That’s when she decided to turn off all distractions.

But, well, it also was a bit counterproductive as she now felt like she was a guard on duty to defend the house and her own life.

And possibly Bella was just spiraling again.

Nothing happened, all night.

Bella definitely was spiraling again. (Right?)

When Charlie came home he found Bella on the sofa, curled into a blanket with her phone still in her hand. He carefully took the phone out of her hands. On screen there was an article about the mass attack and the other found bodys. Charlie sighed and turned off the phone before he put it onto the coffee table. He gave Bella a little smile, he didn’t want to wake her up, and went into his room.

—-

At breakfast Bella yawned every few seconds. She hated getting up early, especially for school. Charlie looked at her - well, examined her, is more suitable. 

He also hadn’t slept well. Every second he had closed his eyes, ready to drift off, he suddenly had found himself wide awake. All the information of the day kept flooding his brain. He was looking for clues, solutions, questions… But there was nothing. In all his career he had never felt this way. Usually Charlie felt deep down what was the right thing to do, he kept a clean mind but now? It was probably the first time Charlie had had a nightmare because of something at work. And he had seen lots of stuff, many things he didn’t want to even think about.

So, as he felt uneasy himself, he worried about Bella too. She wasn’t used to all this cop business that made his every-day-life. And right now the events were on a much higher level. Charlie remembered that Bella had been a sensitive child. After finding her phone last night, he really felt the need to talk to her. But he was unsure how to bring it up.

He didn’t want to confront Bella. He was scared that she might close herself up if he said the wrong thing. All that Charlie longed for was to have a heart to heart connection with her, and he knew that this topic would be a ride or die for their slowly building relationship.

The bread was chewy and dry. Charlie chewed slowly, he was aware of every single noise he made. He cleared his throat even though he still had no idea how to start the conversation. (As if he ever had a clue.)

“Bella, did you… sleep well?” He felt his heart in his chest, he felt silly.

“Yeah, it’s okay. Just too short.” Bella yawned and gave him a tired smile. She then yawned again.

“You know, nothing’s going to happen to you, or us, right?” Oh god, everything he said sounded stiff, right?

“What do you mean?” This time she actually looked straight at Charlie; her forehead in wrinkles.

“When I came home last night, I found you with the phone still on, on an article analysing everything around the murders. And I don’t want to say that you can’t look things up, I know how much these things can pull you in. I am just… worried, I guess, that’s what you call it.” He scratched his chin. This didn’t sound too bad, right?

“You don’t have to worry about me, dad.” Bella’s smile now was genuine. “I am totally fine.” She nodded as if to confirm it herself.

“The thing is, uhm, Renée told me about your issues with overthinking and spiraling, like in an email. And I just don’t want anything happening that you feel stuck in. And I guess I just want to say that we can talk about stuff.” He scratched his chin again. His heart was now really beating fast. Shit. “I know we’re not the closest, but I truly regret that, and I hope that things…” He paused himself, he knew how mushy his brain got once he started rambling.

“Thank you, dad. I promise I am fine, I know how to deal with it now.” Bella smiled and she tried to hold back the silent tears that filled the corners of her eyes. “And I am so sorry; I missed you all these years.” She gently took Charlie’s hand laying on the table and pressed it softly.

“I will talk to you.”

Now it was only the radio singing a rock song that filled the kitchen. Bella and Charlie ate the rest of their breakfasts in silence. Was everything said? No. But they had the feeling now, that there would be so many more moments to say everything that mattered and everything that didn’t.

Notes:

writing this almost made me cry, help. (i also was listening to “killer + the sound” by Phoebe Bridgers, Abby Gundersen & Noah Gundersen, so maybe that didn’t help either)

Chapter 12

Once again, Bella found herself in the school bathroom looking at her pale face in the dusty mirror. It probably was the horrible fluorescent lighting in here that made her look this sick. But she also felt sick. And all the stalls were full . She wanted to hide from - she didn’t know what; and she thought her body would get rid of its own insides any moment.

The sink was cold and dirty and Bella felt like she might also die from touching it. But everything was so hot, she needed the cold. Tears filled her eyes and everything was blurry.

What the fuck was happening?

Bella had no idea.

Why was nobody leaving their stall?

It all felt like a scene from a horror movie. Bella wiped away the tears and locked eyes with her reflection. She had to calm down. Now.

But the more she told herself to calm down the worse it got. Her hands on the cold and wet porcelain started shaking. She was getting cold now.

Fuck everything.

Bella pulled herself away from the sink and the mirror and left the washroom. Of course someone would feel like going crazy when they seek refuge in a high school bathroom. She needed just some air, and then everything would be okay again.

Well, Bella didn’t know what even was wrong in the first place. But air sounded like a great idea.

Walking down the hallway Bella held tight onto her backpack. She put her focus on her steps and her chest, breathing slowly and carefully. She was fine. Maybe just catching the flu?

“Hi Bella!” It was Alice. She sat on the floor next to her sister. Bella couldn’t remember the girl’s name, so she just said hi to both of them. Alice and her sister both had books in their laps and seemed to be studying them intensely.

“What are you up to?” Alice asked with a smile. She was so bright and happy, even at school, which fascinated Bella.

“Oh, I meant to go outside to get some sun while it lasts.” Bella laughed and looked down on her hands. “Do you want to join me?” (She didn’t know why she asked that, rejection therapy, maybe?)

“Oh we’d love to,” Alice said and looked at her sister who gave her a warning glance, “but unfortunately Rosalie and I are both allergic to the sun.” She shrugged. “Annoying, I know. But enjoy Bella!” She smiled.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Bella nodded. She made a note in her mind to look up whether being allergic to the sun was a real thing (it was). “Good luck with studying inside then, I guess?”

“Thank you!” Alice's eyes sparkled and she waved at Bella when she turned to go.

In the corner of her eye Bella saw how Rosalie leaned over to Alice to whisper to her. Immediately Bella started to feel the anxiety entering her head. This hadn’t been an insensitive reaction to the sun allergy right? She tried telling herself that this conversation didn’t matter at all and that she was overthinking and overwhelmed (once again).

Outside, probably everyone except Rosalie and Alice, was sitting either on the few benches and tables or on the grass. It didn’t take long until Bella had spotted Jess and Erica and made her way through the labyrinth of students.

The sun was out, shining through the trees and dancing on the grass. In this light Forks seemed to be a brighter place, everyone seemed to be happier. It was weird how the sun impacted this whole town so much.

Bella sat down next to Jess on the Bench, Erica was sitting on top of the table. Books were spread out all around her but she didn’t seem to be interested in them, she was leaning down to talk to Jess.

“So. what do you think about the winter dance? Should I wear last year's again or do we want to go shopping?”

“What was your last year’s?”

“Oh yeah, one second I will find it” Erica took out her phone.

“It was stunning. She looked absolutely like a goddess.” Jess nodded enthusiastically. 

After a few seconds Erica had found the picture of her in a purple shiny dress. It really complimented her skin tone and she looked so happy wearing this dress.

“I agree. This looks gorgeous!” Bella exclaimed. “I think you should wear it again, I want to see it in person.” She chuckled.

“Okay” Erica pressed her lips together and scrolled through her camera roll. “But we still should go to Port Angeles sometime soon.” She glanced at Bella and Jess.

“So true. I need to get out of this town.” Jess sighed. “At least for a few hours.” 

“I would be up for it too.” Bella nodded.

She wasn’t even exactly sure whether she missed being in a city. But it sounded nice to drive to a bigger place. Maybe she could also get new books there. She was growing tired of Romeo & Juliet. They still died at the end.

“But now I really need to connect with the sun” Jess turned towards the sun and closed her eyes. Erica and Bella giggled.

“And I probably should tackle this calculus,” Erica yawned, picking up her chunky workbook. “Why did I decide to become a girl in STEM again?” She yawned again.

“Because we are strong and smart women,” Jess laughed. This had been their mantra for all the years they had spent together suffering in high school.

Bella smiled. “You can also be smart as a non STEM girl though?”

“You are so right!” Erica put down the book again.

“I’ll always prefer reading to be honest,” Bella shrugged. “STEM was never meant for me.”

“I wish.” Erica looked down on the book in her lap. “I hate it all but sometimes I find myself loving it very much. It doesn’t make sense.” She yawned again.

“Yeah, uhm, no.”

“Guys please, you are messing up my connection with the sun.” Jess opened her eyes and gave both Bella and Erica a warning side eye - which only made them burst into laughter. “See!” She pointed up to the sky. “There are clouds coming now, all because of you.”

Erica rolled her eyes. “She has to get out of this town.”

They all were still giggling when they headed inside again at the beginning of the last period of the day. Bella was in the middle of the trio, Erica and Jess both had their arms wrapped around hers and they were constantly bumping into each other. But it felt good. And Bella realised that she had never felt this way before. She had never thought this little about anything before, and it still felt safe and even natural. And, well, now that was probably weird. (But in a good way.)

Bella’s last class of the day was drama and she entered the theatre ready for Alice’s beaming enthusiasm. But Alice was not there. No one knew anything because everyone had spent the break outside and no one talked to any Cullen. Bella thought about mentioning the sun allergy but that felt silly, as no one really seemed to have any big interest in the Cullen’s well-being anyway. She also told herself to not give too much thought into it but she did wonder why Alice had left over the maybe 20 minutes she had been outside. There sure was a reason, but maybe she wasn’t supposed to know. - No, she surely wasn’t supposed to know. It was none of her business. Why did she always care? About everything? When she knew nothing? (Obviously, Bella had a very hard time focusing that class.)

Notes:

sUn aLlErgY ;D

Chapter 13

Bella was pretty sure that what she felt had to be the equivalent of a hangover when she woke up. Her head was ringing, her eyes crusty and she was covered in sweat. She tried to lift her head off the pillow and sighed, her head was absolutely enormously heavy.

She yawned. 

Her throat and everything else in her body felt okay. Touching her forehead she checked if she had a fever. - No.

It wasn't like Bella had never experienced feeling like this before. She was just stressed about never finding a reason why she felt so sick without actually being sick and she had never had a single drop of alcohol.

She turned around and pulled the sheets over her head. Everything was too much.

Downstairs she heard Charlie getting ready for work. Would he mind if she stayed home? Probably not. Except for the “don't get into the woods” he had not given her any rules. - And she wasn't skipping, she was actually unwell. So why did it feel like skipping and faking?

“Bye Bella!”

Bella turned around and sighed. The front door closed with a rattling sound, then she heard Charlie driving away.

Bella was mad at herself. She hated feeling this way.

After a few glances around her room she drifted back to sleep. Dreaming in wild colours and moving around, she clenched to her pillows. Her head was suddenly so light. She felt everything and nothing.

Maybe this was what going crazy felt like.

 

When Bella woke up again she felt like she might float away at the unexpected calmness that filled her body. Sun rays fell on the messy sheets and her pale legs. She turned around and smiled to herself.

Sometimes sleeping did bring a wonder.

She went down into the kitchen and made some toast. She turned on the TV and ate while zipping through the channels - there was nothing interesting on.

She grabbed her copy of Romeo and Juliet and cuddled up in her bed. Rereading the story over and over again brought her peace. Bella had found interest also in imagining herself in either the role of Romeo or Juliet. She liked the tragedy, she liked thinking about a relationship that everyone classified as true love but she knew it wasn’t. She imagined herself in the Elizabethan Era dressing up as a man to play theatre, to play the latest Shakespeare character. It was the perfect method to ignore thoughts in her brain that crept in all the time, always disturbing and never comforting. But Shakespeare gave her comfort, imagining a different life gave her comfort. Imagining anything was a rescue.

In the afternoon Bella got very bored. She never thought that she would get bored so easily, not in one single day spent alone, but she did. She stared out of the window into the trees outside. She felt an urge to go outside and explore the forest. Maybe not even explore, but just a little walk. Maybe the fresh air would reset the day that felt like an endless snail race.

While she put on her converse she heard Charlie's warnings inside her head. But it wasn’t like she was going to go deep into the woods. She just wanted to go for a walk. And well, the road was not exactly a pretty walk. Bella was not even sure if maybe walking along the road was even more dangerous. The few cars that passed through always were speeding way over the limit as if they were running away from Forks. As if this was the least favourable place to be.

Bella told herself that she would be totally fine as she just went for a few steps. It was still light out and she really would not go deep in.

Before leaving the house she grabbed one of Charlie’s sweaters laying around in the hallway. It was too big but in case it was colder than she expected, she would be warm enough.

 

Right behind the house Bella found a little path that led through the bushes framing the backyard - if one could call the little strip of grass a “backyard”. At least there was an overgrown bench in the middle of it. Covered in moss; it was pretty sad to think how long no one must have sat there.

Bella followed the trail. Branches were brushing against her arms while she pushed through the hedges and bushes. She found that the bushes had grown on a tiny hill that fell deeper as soon as one had passed the bushes. It was not too steep though, but the forest soil was covered in moss, leaves and old branches. All the trees’ trunks were also grown over by moss. It looked like a setting for a fairytale. If a fairy flew through the air it would have made total sense.

Bella took in all the various shades of green. It was so beautiful with the few strings of sunlight in which the insects were dancing.

She took a few steps down the hill. The leaves beneath her feet rustled with every movement she made. The air was mystic and everything was quiet. Bella wandered around; she felt how time was passing. It was a good feeling.

The only thing she cared about was keeping on walking. Here and there she paused to look at a bug. It was a mindful thing, she thought, to stop and watch.

Despite all warnings Charlie had given her, Bella felt safe in the forest. But she did go back to the house sooner than she liked in case Charlie returned early from work. She did not want to upset him or get in a fight.

Charlie wasn’t one to pick a fight or to scream, - she knew that (Renée had told her excessively), but Bella really did not want to test out how he’d react now. Time had passed since Renée had broken up with him and also with everything going around she understood his rule. Especially as it was the only rule he had given her. - Or, well, asked her to follow.

Charlie fortunately was not back home yet so Bella just put the sweater back in its previous spot and went up to her room. Now that she had the capacity for it, she started cleaning it. Rearranging the decor. She even took the little bag of postcards she had kept in her suitcase and put them on the walls.

She told herself that she was going to be okay. No matter what happened.

 

—

Bella started going to the woods more frequently. Whenever she was feeling lost in place she went. She always followed the same trail, and remembered it. She could always see the back of the house. The white paint flickering through the trees. She made sure of that.

Charlie never seemed to notice it. Just as he had not noticed Bella staying home - until the school called later that night. He wasn’t mad about it. He only worried about Bella. But she told him she was fine. Which she believed she was.

The forest slowly became what the library in Phoenix had been to Bella. It was a safe place. It calmed her down. Often she felt too big for this town, like she did not belong, like she did not fit in. But among the trees, in the shadows of the branches, she remembered that nobody belonged. That everyone was tiny and that the world was much bigger than what she felt it was.

 

Then it happened. 

Another body had been found. 

The news was cast while Bella was at school. A ringing alarm went through everyone’s phones. For a moment it was like time stopped.

Everyone read the articles in silence. Or the headline at least. They started whispering and talking and got louder and louder. Bella glared at the screen. The white hurt her eyes. She felt tears forming; her eyes suddenly were completely dried out. She swallowed. Her stomach twisting, she kept on reading.

The body had been discovered around Tacoma. Not far from Seattle but still close enough to let everyone fall into panic. Again, there was nothing to indicate the cause of death. The body was just as it appeared completely empty. All blood had gone. But there was no pool of blood. The blood seemed to have disappeared.

And no clue of who did it. It had to have been someone. Someone had to murder all these people. Otherwise it would be even scarier to think that multiple people used this cruel strategy to kill. And especially it seemed like an elaborate technique to murder someone without making a mess while also getting rid of all blood.

This time however the victim was identifiable, they wrote that at least. The family wished though to not publish the name. They did not want to be tied even closer to the murders as they inevitably had been tied to.

But Bella could not help it, she had the feeling it was someone she knew. It was only a feeling and she knew that she could not trust her feelings - thank you, ocd. But her mind started racing.

She got up from her seat and went to the bathroom. Her ears felt clogged and she ignored the teacher yelling after her about the hall pass. Her head was beating. She once again started staring at her reflection in the stupid mirror. She started washing her hands too. It was the only thing she managed to think about. The only thing her brain told her to do. She felt like she was indeed, now for sure, going crazy.

Tacoma was three hours by car away. But Charlie had only left for work about an hour ago. And Bella had seen all of her friends at school already. They could not have driven to Tacoma. And even the Cullens were there. Bella had talked to Alice for a second this morning but Rosalie had called her aside. The boys she had not seen, but she wasn’t too sorry about it. Every day without Edward was not as bad a day. But therefore it was pretty clear too that Mike’s claim had been wrong. Not that it had been obvious before but now it was pretty much declared.

Bella did not even understand why she was so fixated on the murders in relation to the Cullens. Had Mike’s comment really impacted her that much or did she just want to truly believe the Cullens were good people because she maybe had a crush on Alice? She could not make sense of it.

She knew she was being irrational. She always ended up being. She always started spiraling.

When the bell rang she hushed into one of the stalls. Her breathing began to slow down. She looked at her hands. The fingers were red from all the cold water.

The washroom door opened and fell into the lock. Bella tried to not make any sound while carefully listening to the noise the other person made, waiting for them to leave. She was not too keen to stay in the stall forever. But the other one seemed to want to stay in the stall forever. Bella heard them rubbing their nose, sneezing. Maybe they were crying.

She decided to leave the stall. The other person probably wanted to be alone too and thought no one heard them. She tried to make as little noise as possible but just as she was pressing down the door handle, finally ready to leave the washroom, the other stall door opened.

 It was Alice. Bella stopped in her movement. The door fell into the lock.

“Are you okay?” She felt stupid for asking as Alice's eyes were completely red from rubbing.

“Are you?” Alice smiled smugly then laughed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be joking, I guess.”

“Do whatever you need to.” Bella pulled some skin off her fingertips. She wanted to say more, but she didn’t know what.

“Thanks.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with me.” Bella blurted and then regretted it immediately.

“Me neither.” Alice shrugged. Then added, “like with me.”

Bella smiled tiredly.

“You want to talk about it?” Alice leaned against the sink.

“Maybe?” Bella bit her tongue. “It feels weird to say yes to that kind of a question, you know?” The question made her feel like she was some kind of troubled child. Like she was weak and needed someone to rescue her. She preferred to figure things out on her own.

But Alice was looking at her so worried, and she seemed like she actually cared. Not in the way that she’d rescue her, but that she would know. Know how Bella felt, and understand, not judge her.

“If it helps you, we can both talk. I don’t mind.” Alice smiled.

“Here?” Bella looked around in the dirty washroom, the greenish fluorescent lights let everything appear even more dirty than it actually was.

“Okay, uhm… Let’s go to the theatre? No one should be there right now.” Alice took her bag and threw it over her shoulder.

“Okay, I'll meet you there?” Bella remembered her backpack which was still in the classroom.

“Hurry up though. Otherwise I’ll think you dumped and tricked me.” Alice grinned and left the bathroom. Bella followed her with a quick stop in her history classroom. She was lucky to not be held back by her teacher who usually was very nitpicky about students without hall passes.

 

Alice was sitting in a seat right up the aisle in row 7 when Bella entered the theatre. Bella’s stomach rumoured. It was lunch break, but in the theatre food was not allowed. She would eat later.

Alice waved at her when Bella closed the heavy door behind her. She smiled, her face still red. Bella climbed the stairs and sat down next to Alice. It was weird to be this close to her. Bella felt her hands sweating nervously.

“Okay, I’ll start.” Alice leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. “I feel like with me it’s all these murders. They make me feel like I am insane. I am so worried about them. And I don’t even understand why because murders happen all the time.” She rubbed the leather of her Mary Janes.

“Me too, actually.” Bella smiled. “I feel like I am overreacting but they worry me so much. I want to freak out. It’s so fucking scary.”

“Everyone keeps telling me to calm down, you know? But I feel it’s only going to get worse.” Alice bit her tongue. She could not meet Bella’s eye. Maybe she was ashamed.

“I know! No one seems to want to investigate the murder. It’s like they give up because it almost seems impossible. Only because there are no clues it doesn’t mean that we should not take action.” Bella ripped off another piece of skin from around her fingernail.

“I love how you say we” Alice laughed.

“Guess I got that from my dad. He’s a police officer.”

“I know, silly you, everyone knows.” Alice nudged Bellas shoulder with a smile.

“But you know I have this insane urge to go investigate. I am reading all the articles and I want to know more. I want to know everything. It makes me feel like I am actually mad. Everyone else tries to stay safe but-”

Alice nodded which made Bella stop in her thoughts.

“Okay, I have an idea.” Alice leaned forward. “What if we drive down to Tacoma, to see if we can find out more?”

“Now?” Bella’s heart was immediately racing.

“No, maybe tomorrow? It’s Saturday! And we can use my car.”

“Are you sure about it?” Bella had Charlie in the back of her head. She wasn’t sure if she’d actually want to investigate investigate that way. The murderer seemed to be very calculating, very skilled and very dangerous. It probably was not the best idea to go look out for them, right?

“No.” Alice laughed. “But it’s an effort.”

“I think it’s a bit crazy.”

“But only a bit?” Alice grinned.

“Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“Let’s do it!”

“Yay!” Alice clapped her hands. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7 am?”

Notes:

I am sorry it took me so long to update!! But I hope to be back now with more regular updates :)

Chapter 14

Bella was not sure what made her brain race more. Spending a whole day alone with Alice or going to look out for a literal serial killer? It felt the same. And well, it was very much correlated.

The leaves beneath her steps rustled and branches cracked. The last sun rays of the day hit the trees sparely.

Bella by now had almost memorised her path through the forest. She was too anxious to stick to Charlie’s rule. And the forest worked too well to not use its natural power.

She enjoyed the forest. Breathing slowly, forgetting that there was a world so close to the trees that was dangerous and ever moving so quickly. She liked to forget everything for a couple moments.

Suddenly there was a loud crack.

It was louder than any crack Bella could produce herself. 

She turned around, looking for anything that might have made the sound. Maybe it was just a dead branch breaking off a tree. But there was not a single branch huge and fresh enough.

To be fair it had also already gotten quite dark and Bella barely saw anything. Everything was toned darker and the shadows had become bigger.

Then another crack and leaves rustling. It sounded like someone was running, or something. 

Bella screamed.

She didn’t know why but she did. She did not even realise that she was scared, she just screamed. 

Then she started running.

Which was hard when she barely saw anything, and it was getting darker every second. She heard all the branches and leaves and in her head she could not separate the her own from the one she’d heard.

Maybe the killer had arrived in Forks and she really should have never ignored Charlie’s warning.

Maybe she was going to be brutally murdered now, too.

She stumbled and fell against a tree.

The next thing she felt was the mud on her hands and leaves all over her face. Everything was dark and quiet.

She definitely was going to die. She now was an even easier victim.

She tried to turn around. She had to get away from this place. But it was hard to find her path when everything was deep dark green.

Bella felt tears forming in her eyes. They eventually ran down her cheeks when she got up and immediately hit her head again. Probably a huge branch. Her forehead started burning.

She had lost all sense of orientation.

The only thing she was able to think was “fuck.”

She wanted to give up but she knew she had to figure this out. Even just for the sake of Charlie. She could not be murdered.

Maybe she was being dramatic but in the case of suspecting being murdered everyone would have reacted the same way, right?

She walked slowly now. Checking every step. All she wanted was to get home safely.

When she finally reached the house - it actually was not far away - Charlie’s car was already in the driveway.

Bella was well aware of what she looked like when she entered the living room. All her limbs felt sore and dirty. Her eyes were crusty and she felt blood drying on her lips. What she did not expect was Charlie’s reaction.

“Oh shit, Bella” He jumped up from the sofa. “What the hell happened to you? Where were you?”

Bella opened her mouth but she didn’t know what to say. Her mouth was so dry and she suddenly felt sick.

“No, don’t answer. We got to get you into the hospital.”

“No, dad, I’m fine.” Her voice was just a little, thin string.

“You are absolutely not, Bells. You have a giant laceration on your forehead that looks like it has to be stitched.”

“Oh.”

Charlie took her hand and moved her back out of the door. “Go sit in the car, okay? I am just going to grab some things we’ll need.”

During the drive Bella felt herself drifting off at every second instant. Her head was heavy and she was tired. So incredibly tired.

Charlie eyed her at any given possibility, though he tried to focus on the road. It was dark and with all the trees and winding roads it was not the safest area to drive distracted.

He sighed and locked eyes with the street. He tried not to worry too much, not yet. Not when he didn’t know anything yet. He was going to interrogate Bella, but he knew well not to at this moment. She seemed unconscious and confused and he did not want to put any more pressure on her, not at the state of her distress.

Even if she had broken his rule, he also did not exactly feel mad. He wished he was. But Charlie had never been one to be angry. He only was worried.

At the hospital Bella was taken into the examination room. Charlie sat down in the waiting room, fidgeting with his fingers until a nurse came to him. Time seemed to pass slowly in the hospital

“She sure is alright. Very sleepy though and a bit in shock. We’ve stitched the wound and it will be alright eventually. It just takes time. For now all that she needs is a lot of rest.”

Charlie nodded enthusiastically. “Thanks.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled with his lips pressed tight. His forehead wrinkled with worry.

“Do you have any further questions?” the nurse asked.

“Are you keeping her here?” Maybe he should have taken a bag but when he grabbed the things he only thought about the legal stuff.

“She’s free to go home.” The nurse smiled. “She is in quite some pain it seems but we are sure that after a good sleep she will feel better. If it’s not improving though, you can always come back here.”

“Thank you.” Charlie nodded again.

“I’ll bring her back here in a bit”, the nurse said and went down the long fluorescently lit hallway.

—

Bella only woke up because someone was honking extremely loud and extremely long. She groaned when she felt the sharp pain in her forehead. For a second she was not sure where exactly she was but then slowly the images of the last evening and night trickled back into her memory.

She turned around and pressed her head into the pillows. Who even felt like it was okay to disturb anyone on a Saturday morning??? Especially not with an endless honk!

Downstairs she heard Charlie grumbling about the honk. Saturday mornings were the rare time of the week when he was completely off duty and he liked to sleep in. But at this time the sky was still a deep orange. Way too early.

A car door shut and a few seconds later the doorbell rang. Charlie stopped rummaging in the kitchen and went to open the door.

He was very confused when he found a young girl, probably around Bella’s age though - so maybe not so young? - on the doorstep. She had dark hair and a very pretty face. She wore a fashionable outfit too, and that at 7 am?

He opened the door. Maybe she just was a friend Bella had made. Though, if he was completely honest he could not really really imagine his daughter being friends with a girl like that. Maybe he was also just projecting. Maybe it was just his ever so present social anxiety.

“Hi! I’m Alice.” The girl said with an overly excited smile but Charlie had to admit that she’d immediately won him over with that. “Is Bella home?”

“Yeah, of course, at this time of day.” Because he was nervous Charlie’s hands found their way into his pj’s pockets.

“It’s just that we were going to meet up - like fifteen minutes ago - now, and she still has not come out.”

“Oh Alice I’m sorry, Bella had not told me anything. But she got into an accident yesterday and is probably or was probably still sleeping. She needs a lot of rest.”

“O God!” Alice exclaimed. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She hasn’t really told me anything- she’s not been very conscious or able to speak.”

“So, it’s bad?”

Charlie was astonished by Alice’s genuine concern. She seemed to truly care about Bella, which did confuse him as Bella had never mentioned her before. But to be fair, they had never had any conversation about her social life in Forks before. Not one that he remembered at least. Was he a bad dad?

“The nurse said that she’ll be fine soon after enough rest. But she was in shock, I don’t know what happened though. I did not want to pressure her into talking about it, you know?”

Alice nodded. “Can I see her?”

“I have no objection but let me check on her. Just a second, okay?”

 

Bella sat up straight in her bed when she heard Alice’s steps on the stairs. She probably looked like a mess with her unbrushed hair and the weird clothes she was in. It was a band shirt she had never seen before, so she assumed it was one of Charlie’s old ones. Other than that she was only wearing her underwear. But at least she was clean, so Charlie must have given her a shower last night, or maybe at the hospital? She could not exactly piece together the bits of the evening that happened after she had reached the house.

Alice slid through the door as if she had been in Bella’s room a dozen times before. How was she always so confident? Bella was well aware of the fact that she was almost wearing nothing and possibly looking like a crazy person right now. Alice looking like absolute perfection did not make her feel any better to be true.

“Bella.” Alice smiled warmly.

“Hey.” Bella looked down on the sheets. “I am sorry for not letting you know.”

“Oh dear, don’t worry about that! You sure already had enough adventure for ages.”

“How do you know?” Bella frowned.

“I was just guessing, to be fair, from what your dad’s told me.”

They looked at each other for an instant.

“So, what happened?”

“I have no clue.” Bella sighed. “I am trying so hard to make sense of it all but it does not truly make sense. Not in a way that wouldn’t make me sound crazy.”

Alice nodded.

“I was just in the forest, you know, when I heard strange footsteps and it was already quite dark so I didn’t see much. And I got scared so I started running and hit a tree, like right full on. And after that I only remember darkness until I was back at the house. I surely have hit more trees than the first one, otherwise I probably would not have gotten this bad boy.” She pointed to the stitches on her forehead.

“It looks kinda cool.” Alice grinned.

“I just hope it’s not leaving a scar. Imagine I have to tell people over and over again that I ran against trees in a fucking forest.” Bella laughed and Alice joined in.

“That would be so funny, but I know what you mean.”

“Thanks.”

“Really, I mean it.” Alice laughed. Bella gave her a warning glance but then she also burst into laughter.

“Do you mind if I stay around for a bit?” Alice asked when they had calmed down. “I still would like to hang out with you. Might be better even to not go chasing around a killer?”

“You sure can stay. If I really got to rest like Charlie said, I will be very bored eventually if I am all alone.”

“Perfect, thank you!” Alice smiled and pointed to Bella’s bed. “Can I sit here?”

Bella nodded.

“I think, what made me freak out so much yesterday was that I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was the killer whose footsteps I had heard. I was so sure that I was going to get murdered.”

Alice gasped. “Really?”

“Maybe I am just being paranoid.” Bella shrugged.

“No, don’t tell yourself that. It is possible.”

“You think so?”

Alice nodded. “I wish it wasn’t, but Tacoma is not that far, and I am sure that any murderer will find a way to murder.”

“Maybe it was all a bad idea to even think about investigating?” Bella scratched her forehead. Alice immediately took her hand and carefully moved it away from the wound. Her fingers were cold like ice against Bella’s.

“Don’t scratch it. It will only worsen the itch.” Alice's smile was soft and Bella found herself once again thinking about how pretty she thought Alice was and how much she would like to know her in and out and kiss her.

“Are you going to tell your dad about it?” Alice asked.

“I probably should. We have to try to keep everyone as safe as possible and I think it’s important that everyone is aware. But I don’t know. I have no proof and I also don’t want to worry Charlie. I think I have already caused him enough worry in my life.”

“You do know that it’s his job to worry and to investigate though?”

Bella laughed. “Sure, but he’s my dad. He’s both to me.”

Alice nodded. “Okay, promise you’ll tell him, okay? Otherwise I suggest we let it rest for now and actually do something that will let you rest?”

“Sounds perfect.” Bella smiled, she suddenly felt very drained but she wanted to spend more time with Alice so she tried to appear as awake as possible while Alice questioned her about movie choices from Bella’s DVD collection. In the end they ended up watching a movie Alice had never seen before, but Bella did not catch much of it as she was drifting to sleep every few scenes. It was a nice feeling though to have Alice sitting beside her, watching the movie and talking over the dialogue. Bella even just enjoyed listening to her thoughts. Or maybe that was what she enjoyed most.

By the end of the day Bella knew knew that she had a crush on Alice.