Chapter Text
I was running, blinded by the rainfall. I could barely see, but I knew I needed to reach them. If I could just run fast enough. I could make it. I had to... I couldn't have them catch me. It would mean the death of me. I know I'm running toward someone, but who, I can't conjure in my mind. I demand myself not to fall, knowing myself enough to know that I'm usually prone to clumsiness. I can find them, whoever they were, I feel myself get sharply pulled back. A sharp pain pierces my arm and I look back sharply to see what is hurting me...
I gasp loudly as I jolt awake, confused and anxious. My hand grasps my left arm, just above my wrist. I look in a panic, wondering what happened to my arm, only to see the red imprint of the door lock leaving it's mark on me. I looked to my left and saw my dad wasn't in the front seat anymore. Even though I was crawling out of my dream fog, I still wasn't able to piece together what was going on. I sat up, rubbing my neck. It was stiff from leaning my head to the right, on top of my arm resting on the car window. Who knows when I'd fallen asleep. The sunshine warming my skin told me we weren't in Kansas anymore. Except unlike Dorothy, I wasn't in Oz, and I didn't have a little dog to accompany me. That, and we didn't leave Kansas behind, we'd left Washington.
It was a long trip from Forks to Sunnydale. The GPS told us it would've taken almost a whole day to get there. My dad being my dad, he wanted to power through and get to Sunnydale as soon as possible. Sure enough, we must've gotten there in about a third of the time since we'd left at 8 PM the night before, and it was… I check the clock on the car, but notice it's turned off, so I check my phone and see it's 7:15 AM.
"Wow." I whisper as I glance through the open window, looking around the neighborhood I'd now call my home. It was a lot less greenery than I was used to, but it wasn't barren either. Every individual house had lush front yards, occasional trees dotting the sidewalks. A sudden, "Bells, you're finally awake" made me jump out of my skin, even though I knew a split second later that it was just my dad. He let out a huff of a laugh before walking past the window to the back of the truck. "Sorry, did I scare ya?" I chuckled quietly and nodded. "Why don't you go unpack some of your stuff, furniture's supposed to get here later today. Movers should be here by 3. Or that's what they said anyway."
I hummed and replied, "We know how that went last time." Remembering when I'd moved in with him two years beforehand, after my mom had married her baseball player boyfriend, Phil. Back then the movers hadn't showed up until the next day, and even then, they'd lost half of my things.
Charlie scoffed, his thick eyebrows raised high memories of that time clearly flashing before his eyes. "Different company this time. Hopefully they don't lose half your shit like the other one."
I moved in with Charlie for a few reasons. I didn't want to keep traveling just to spend most of my time sitting around watching a man play a sport. I didn't want to deal with my mom's high strung mood swings if I didn't have to. I also honestly missed my dad, and that was the main reason I moved. When I first moved in with him, and to Forks, I thought I'd miss my mom more. Surprise! When you're used to having your needs be ignored and basically are a caretaker to your parent, it's a good thing not to be stuck in that role anymore. Not as often, at least. I still got the occasional call of my mom spiraling over Phil saying the wrong thing, or not cleaning up his dishes, something like that. Anything like that. Charlie might not be great at cooking, but at least he always did the dishes. I liked cooking anyway.
Even though my dad suggested we go out to eat to "see what the local cuisine is like" and I warned him that we weren't going to go back to my first few months at Forks. "I'm sure a place called Sunnydale has good produce, we can't go back to eating out all the time."
Charlie shook his head, though his face held a half smile. "Jeez Louise, kiddo. You talk once about getting Indian food after a 12 hour drive and…" he continued his mini rant, but it turned into an inaudible mumble as he finished bringing in the last moving box we had, the word "KITCHEN" ironically written across it in Sharpie. I smiled and shook my head lightly as I adjusted the strap on my messenger bag. I'd stuffed my essentials in there so they wouldn't get lost in the sea of boxes which now flooded the living room.
"Dad, it's not even 8 yet. Let's have pancakes before we start thinking about lunch or dinner."
My dad had a guilty look on his face. My shoulders dropped as I analyzed his expression, stopping myself from moving any further into the house. "The mix is in the the kitchen box, right…?"
He sighed, "I gave the rest of our food to Billy, lot of our stuff wouldn't have made it on the trip."
I tilted my head forward and groaned a bit, "Dad! Pancake mix?!"
Charlie sighed as he picked up one of the boxes marked "BEDROOM C" and meandered toward the staircase. "Listen we got to talking about when Jake dropped off your truck after doing some repairs on it. Apparently he went right back to his dad and started ranting about the chocolate chip blackberry ones you made."
I smiled, remembering that morning fondly. Jacob had eaten so many pancakes that Charlie had to run out and buy another box. Jacob had gone full teenage boy, scarfing down huge loads of food all the time, but of course not gaining any weight on his newly muscled body. We always had the best conversations over meals together. Talking about anything from Rebecca teasing Rachel for dating Paul, to the night they found out their mom died from a car crash, and how much Jacob and I missed her. That was the one regret I had about leaving Forks. Leaving Jacob, my best friend, behind. But this change was needed, and necessary. Jacob Black, his sisters, and especially his dad Billy, would always be part of our lives, and in our hearts. Forks just didn't provide a livable wage, according to Charlie. But I knew the real reason we moved. I just couldn't stomach the idea of bringing it up. Not yet, anyway.
3 PM came and went, and we quickly realized that the movers weren't coming that day. We'd muddled through the boxes, getting most of them out of the way since we didn't have a lot of stuff to begin with. After a lot of sighing, Charlie pulled out the air mattresses for us. Charlie let me have one of the bigger rooms, claiming he didn't want a lot of space. I think he just wanted me to be happy and stay that way, and that was something he thought would help. More room space didn't exactly back my depression into a corner, but I wasn't opposed to it.
Even though my new room was really nice (bay window, decent size closet, dark wood floor), I felt nervous being by myself. In a new room, in the dark, where anything could be lurking. I told myself I was being silly, that I didn't need to be afraid of the dark. Not anymore. Sleepy and restless, I pushed myself off of my air mattress, wobbling before steadying myself. My tired feet lead me around the house, and I tried quietly maneuvering down the stairs so I wouldn't wake Charlie, who was already snoring in his room upstairs. Every wall was white with a faint smell of fresh paint lingering from the previous owners repainting the walls.
I hissed as my toe smacked hard into one of the unopened moving boxes. I walked past them more carefully, unsure where the light switch was in the living room. As I made my way toward the kitchen, planning on getting a water bottle and picking at my leftover tikka masala, I heard a crash outside. Not like a car crashing, but maybe like someone dropping something heavy. It was loud enough to steal my attention, and my curiosity got the better of me. Especially since I started hearing yelling. I flipped our porch light on quickly and looked out the front window.
A blonde girl, probably around my age, stood in the lamplight. I couldn't make out exactly what she was doing, but she looked like she was breathing heavily. Her arm was up in a defensive position, but slowly was dropping to her side. Without a second thought, I rushed out of my house, running over to her. "Hey, are you okay?" I looked around anxiously, not exactly excited to be outside late at night in an unfamiliar town. Especially when it seemed like this girl was in distress, but I knew I had to check on her. I looked back at her to see that she was holding a… wooden stake... in her hand? The blonde whipped around, the wavy ends flying past her shoulder. She had an intense gaze that said she was ready to take on anything, and her hands were thrown back up in a defensive position. But she relaxed immediately when she saw me.
Her voice was high, and though charming, she was not totally convincing when she said, "Yyyyeah! I'm just… well… out for my nightllly…" She looked at the stake and back to me. "Gardening! I planted a tree, and those, um, pesky squirrels! Keep stealing these." She motioned a stabbing movement with the stake, adding, "Back you vermin!" She laughed with a hint of nerves, and turned away.
I nodded awkwardly, mumbling, "Squirrels… right…"
The blonde had begun walking away, when she looked over at my house and then back to me. "Oh hey! You just moved into the neighborhood, right? I remember using— I mean, seeing, the SOLD sign the other day. Are you going to Sunnydale High?"
I met her eyes, intending to respond right away, but was overwhelmed with a strange, unknown feeling when I saw her face. She had such a sweet and genuine smile, it took me by surprise. Our eyes lingered on each other for a moment before I sputtered out a, "Bella. Swan-- Wait." I rubbed my forehead, grimacing. "I meant yes, I'm a senior, s-sorry, I—"
"Buffy Summers. Also senior, not the citizen. Graduation can't come soon enough."
"Yeah, high school can be hell sometimes."
"Ha! Yeah, totally..." she looked down the street, grimacing at the memory of, what I'd found out later was, all the vampires and other monsters she'd had to defeat at Sunnydale High. Let alone throughout the town itself.
"Well, I'll start to tomorrow morning. Bright and early." I let out a dejected sigh, crossing my arms. The night air was colder than I'd expected.
Buffy looked amused as she looked me up and down. "Yeah, you don't exactly look ready to tackle algebra or mystery meat just yet. Though pink looks good on you. Check us out, looking like Elphaba and Glinda." My eyes took a little too long to look at her sage colored knit tube top and black sweatpants. I smiled awkwardly, and nodded, trying my best not to blush. She added, with the first bit of timidness I'd seen, "Why don't I give you my number? This way we can meet up at school and I can show you around."
"Oh, I don't have a phone— I mean my phone— o-of course I have a phone, I—uh— I just forgot it— um, you know." I pointed toward my bedroom window, smiling awkwardly at her.
Buffy tilted her head to the side, humming to herself as she softly smiled. "I guess we'll see if the fates are kind and we bump into each other at school then?"
The mention of us and fate knocked the wind out of me. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. At the time, I didn't understand how Buffy unsettled me so easily. "I mean, ha... you know where to find me." I gestured vaguely back toward my new house. "But maybe we'll have… um Bio or…" I shrugged my shoulders tightly. "I don't know, lunch or something. Try that… famous mystery meat." I really want to see you again. I thought as though she could read my mind, unconsciously drifting closer to her.
Buffy wrinkled her nose, though she laughed too. "Maybe In-N-Out's a safer bet." She glanced up and down the street, her eyes scanning for something, or maybe someone. I just knew I doubted it was squirrels she was keeping an eye out for. "I better get going, it's super late. But it was nice meeting you, Bella."
I nodded and lifted my arm up to wave goodbye, giving her a small smile as I watched her start to walk away.
"Pink goes good with green." I mumbled to myself, thinking about her comment about our outfits, and thinking that she wouldn't hear me.
"Sorry?" she asked, an amused and curious expression on her face.
"The line from Wicked, uh…" I pulled up my confidence before saying louder, "Pink goes good with green." I nodded and avoided her gaze, nervously chewing on my bottom lip.
"It sure does." She smiled widely at me, leaning a bit toward me, nodding as she spoke. Buffy turned and continued walking down the street, her stride a bit faster than before. "Sweet dreams, Bella!"
I called after her, "Don't let the squirrels bite." and immediately felt embarrassed at my own joke. But the embarrassment melted away with the sound of her laugh, and her smiling over her shoulder at me as she left.
I may not have dreamed that night, but I did sleep with a smile on my face, excited at the idea of seeing her again. Fooling myself in my thoughts that what I wanted was to make a new friend. While I did want that too, that wasn't what my heart really wanted from Buffy. What it will forever want.