FicWad

Lily stood near the edge of her new bed, staring at the outfit she had picked out last night. In the light of the new day and against the pale pink comforter she was starting to hate it. Nothing about it seemed right.

She needed to get Bella’s opinion. It was a strange sensation to suddenly crave the comfort of a person you had only met 16 hours ago. Something about Bella made her feel safe and comfortable, like this was where she had always belonged. Better yet, it was if she had always been here. Did Bella feel the same way? ‘How melodramatic of me’, she thought.

The thought of being overly emotion reminded her of last night and her first meeting with Edward. She’s not quite sure what had taken hold of her, but she knew that she wanted to be as far away from him as possible. After she had stomped up to her room, like your typical teenager, she had pulled out her phone as was becoming habit for her. As the backlight came on she did a small, silent prayer hoping that Jay would have left her a text message.

It amazed her, even now, as she thought of how quickly Jay had become such a fixture in her life too. He was her best friend and her guiding light of real in the sea of fake. Maybe this was a new habit of hers, becoming completely consumed by anyone new she met.

Regardless, Jay had been the one last night to remind her real father didn’t seem keen on forcing her into anything she didn’t want to do and that Lily should take full advantage of that. He had told her to find herself and that he was sure in the tiny town of Forks, Washington that would definitely be possible.

Real father, she thought, how bizarre.

Her phone vibrated near her pillow breaking her from her reverie and she lunged forward to grab it. Hopefully it was Jay again with his famous words of encouragement for her first day in her new school, her real school. She rolled her eyes instantly; Lauren had sent her wonderfully fake words about no longer being in North Beach.

“Not gonna be the same without you girly. Hope to see you soon. xoxo Lauren”

Lily did not feel obligated to reply. There was no one here to force upon her friends she did not care to be around. Bella opened the door cautiously and smiled down at her on the bed. It was a nice feeling that she wasn’t the only one cautious about her every move. She bounced back on the bed and stood near her outfit. She cocked her head to the side again to try and make a decision regarding something most would see as simple, picking an outfit.

She watched as Bella walked slowly to the other side of the room to retrieve her brown and dark green backpack. She wanted to say something to her and she definitely had a million questions, but Lily just kept opening and shutting her mouth awkwardly instead. Her face suddenly became very hot and she was sure her face was a brilliant shade of scarlet. She turned away and stared back down again at her clothes. Bella was suddenly at her side, backpack over her shoulder, staring down at the ensemble too.

“It’s actually going to be too cold for that outfit, I think…” Bella said, her voice trailing off.

Lily never looked up as she mentally went over her wardrobe to determine if she even owned anything suitable for this wet, cold place. She shrugged more to herself than Bella as she concluded she would need a makeover in the worst way. It was very possible she wouldn’t hate this makeover like she had the last. She shivered though the temperature in the small house was comfortable, trying to physically shake those memories from her mind.

Lily was suddenly very aware of the light drizzle hitting the window beside her. No, Bella was right. This outfit would not fit in here as Lily was determined to do. She would be herself, but she would be comfortable. Jay had warned her of this area’s climate, but Lily had ignored him. He had told her of the many summers he had spent here as a child on the nearby reservation. She silently scolded herself for not listening to him. He had been right about everything else, why not this?

She took a thin, long-sleeved shirt from the small closet and showed it to Bella for approval. She simply smiled and shook her head.

“That’s perfect. Let me see if I can find you a jacket.”

Bella simply needed to turn to her left to begin rifling through the small closet. She pulled out a dark green jacket that almost matched her backpack and handed it to Lily.
“I mean, if you want, you don’t have to wear it,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Lily took it, a huge smile on her face, collecting the other parts of her outfit and hurrying to the bathroom. She changed as quickly as possible and then turned to the tiny mirror. Everything seemed smaller here; smaller, but absolutely perfect. She stared back at her blank face, void of all makeup as it was every morning.

Jay had once caught her like this early one morning and told her that she looked more beautiful as is than any other time of the day. The blood rose to her cheeks and it turned that familiar bright color as she tried to think of something else. She was unsure why everything was reminding her of him, but she shook her head to take her back to the present. Today was not the day to be overtaken by the memories of her Jay.

She took a different routine this morning as she pulled out the hair dryer first. Her routine back in that large house many states away was a 3-step, complicated process and took place in a much larger area. A small smile formed on her lips as she realized in those moments, as she caked on makeup and applied fake eyelashes, she had daydreamed of being saved from the only life she knew, a life she hated. She craved a new life that involved only people that loved her for who she was without all the makeup and money. Lily took sharp, deep breaths as she realized that she had all of that now. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes. Her tears would be of the happy variety, but they were for another day.

Today would be different. She toyed with the large makeup kit stationed on the floor near her feet. She hadn’t decided yet, but she knew that Bella wore very little makeup and she was absolutely gorgeous. Their skin wasn’t the same shade, due to Lily’s relentless tanning sessions, but it was flawless with no wrinkles regardless, just as Bella’s skin was. She wasn’t purposely trying to be “just like Bella,” but if she was being honest with herself she did want proof she belonged in this too-good-to-be-true family.

She dried her hair quickly and decided to simply put on the lip gloss she loved, instead of the lip plumping stick that caused her mouth to sting uncomfortably. She walked silently back into the room and noticed Bella was staring out the window, smiling.

“What time does school start”? Lily asked, picking up her own bright green backpack.

Bella turned quickly, the smile still on her face.

“It starts in about 20 minutes. Edward is here to pick us up,” Bella said, a sudden frown appearing.

It took Lily a second to comprehend what that frown meant. No, she did not like Edward, but she would try harder today; be better. She wanted desperately to not change Bella’s whole life, more than it already had, so she forced a smile on her lips and nodded.

“That’s so nice,” she said through gritted teeth, “Will we have time to stop by the front office?”

Bella simply nodded and walked past Lily. She followed close on Bella’s heels, shutting their bedroom door behind her. Bella bounded out the door seemingly unable to get to Edward fast enough. They quickly hugged before he ran to open the door. It took a second before Lily noticed that the door was open for her and she stumbled in the backseat, Bella climbing into the front passenger seat swiftly after her.

Lily scooted across the supple leather until she was sitting in the middle. She realized too late that it was in perfect eye line for Edward. However, she was determined to be nice to Edward and ignore her unjust instincts toward him. She plastered her familiar fake smile across her face as Edward adjusted his mirror, looking straight at her. She was good at nothing if not faking a smile.

“Should I move?” Lily asked, hoping her question appeared polite.

Edward simply shook his head and reversed from the driveway without looking back again. The car basically crawled toward Forks High School and Lily was instantly sure this was for Bella’s sake as she saw her shoulders relax. Edward reached across the center console in the next second and took her hand. Bella never even looked from the window as they touched. Lily also noticed that she didn’t cringe, which is what she was certain she would have done. She desperately needed to investigate the source of these feelings, maybe talk to Jay about all this, before she made any assumptions about Edward.

She shoved whatever monster this was down as far as possible as she rearranged her features, noticing suddenly that was on her face now was closer to a scowl than a smile. She followed Bella’s lead and starred out the window to her left. The small town of Forks flashed before her eyes, but mostly she saw green. While she would miss the beach she definitely appreciated the wonderfully green and lush place she would call home soon enough.

Home. Our room. Sister.

All these words and more were playing on repeat in her head and a grin spread on her face. She liked the sound of all these words, especially since they finally applied to her in all the best ways. She just desperately hoped she would not screw this up.

They pulled into a spot near the front that seemed to almost be reserved for Edward. The parking lot was nearly full, but this spot was void. As Edward placed the car in park Lily unbuckled. She looked up in time to see four more unnaturally beautiful people that seemed to be waiting for Edward. If she’d been paying close attention she would have realized it was in that instant that the hair on the back of her neck stood straight.

Lily looked back to Edward and watched his interaction with them. They all had the same eerie, pale shade to their flawless skin. They also all shared a variation of the same golden eye color. She shook her head a couple of times and then got out the same door Bella had just exited. They had to be his family.

Lily stood in between Bella and Edward unintentionally as she got out of the car. After straightening her shirt she looked up and saw all eyes on her. She was also suddenly very aware of the close proximity of everyone. Uneasy wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe her feelings right now. She laughed awkwardly and slid between the two cars toward the small sidewalk.

“The office is this way,” Lily stated more than questioned, motioning toward the same doors she had entered yesterday.

She didn’t know whether she should wait for Bella and she turned on the group and walked slowly.

“Why do you have to be such a freak?!” Lily silently scolded herself, “So much for not being rude.”

She would have to try to explain her situation to Bella. Just maybe Bella knew the feeling and help her get adjusted. Maybe it wasn’t Edward at all; maybe it was just her new life and her newfound freedom to be herself. There had to be some underlying reason for all this hostility toward a person she had just met.

She heard Bella’s footsteps slightly jogging toward her. She also heard a stumble in those steps and then Bella seemed to regain her composure in the next second. Lily did not need to turn around to know that Edward had been the one to stop Bella’s trajectory toward the concrete. The suddenly strong smell wafting toward her also gave him away. Lily couldn’t place the smell, but it was giving her a headache and quickly. Somehow she knew that sickly sweet, almost sugary smell, was associated with Edward. She was probably imagining that too.

“Probably just my mind playing tricks on me so I don’t have a complete mental breakdown,” she thought to herself.

She pushed the doors open in front of her and continued to the right. She had guessed right as she saw the sign that stated “FRONT OFFICE” in big silver letters. She smiled, in spite of herself, for being able to remember so easily. Though how hard could it be with a school and a town this small. She avoided all the curious eyes as she entered the small, mildew-smelling room. Lily smiled big for the greying, middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk. This wasn’t the same woman as yesterday, but she would just explain her situation and see what was needed next.

Bella and Edward held a hushed conversation behind her. Lily made no effort to decipher its meaning as she began to start the speech she had prepared for everyone.

“Hi. Lily Swan?” the woman asked, before Lily could even get a word out.

She simply nodded and took the schedule that was pushed across the counter to her. As she turned around Bella and Edward broke up their conversation and turned to Lily. Lily held up the piece of paper grinning.

“Well it’s official. This is the weirdest day of my life,” Lily remarked, laughing softly.

Bella’s crooked smile reached her eyes as she read the schedule over Lily’s shoulder, walking out of the office.

“Oh. That’s nice. We have a lot of classes together,” Bella stated, simply, “and you even have one with Alice.”

Lily did not understand everyone’s fascination with this Alice person, but she would find out soon enough. Regardless, if Bella and Charlie liked her Lily would like her too… she had to.

Lily followed behind Edward and Bella now as they lead the way. Lily pretended to be engrossed in her schedule as every eye in the long hallway followed her. She had half expected this due to the sheer size of the student body. It probably wasn’t everyday someone like Lily walked through the doors. She pushed a curl that had fallen from her messy bun back behind her ear. She wondered if there was a bathroom on the way that she could stop at to fix her hair. Suddenly anxiety was her primary emotion as she looked around nervously.

“Oh wait,” she thought, “I don’t have to fix my hair if I don’t want to!”

Lily smiled again and she was sure if someone was paying any sort of attention they would think she was crazy, periodically smiling to herself. This caused a small giggle and out of the corner of her eye she saw that Edward was almost mirroring her facial expressions as if he was in on her private conversation.

They all walked over the threshold of the small classroom and Bella walked up to the man behind the front desk Lily knew must be the teacher. Bella said a small ‘hello’ and motioned toward Lily. He nodded and gestured that Lily should follow Edward and Bella to her new seat. They merely walked to the back of the room, to the last table, and took their seats on the end. Lily sat on the other side of Bella and settled her backpack on the floor near her seat.

It seemed that everyone at this small school knew Lily and the situation. Maybe that little speech she had prepared to explain the situation wasn’t necessary. It was already slightly jarring that no one seemed to watch her as she walked to her seat. Sure, they had watched in the hallway, but in the privacy of the classroom no one seemed to pay her any mind.

She turned to stare up at the front of the room as their teacher walked around his desk and leaned casually against it. He was obviously trying hard to appear as the “cool” teacher. Lily leaned forward and propped herself on her arm as she prepared for a lecture.

Just as she had predicted he began yammering on about Romeo and Juliet. English was her favorite class and also the easiest. She had always taken very advanced classes and they were on a stricter curriculum in Maryland so this would not be a new lesson for her. She proceeded to tune him out as she had already tested on the book. She had scored wonderful, as she always did and as was expected of her. At least the fear of punishment from a bad grade, or even bad day for that matter, was gone from her life.

She pulled out one of her empty notebooks to at least appear to be listening. Her mind began to wonder and she was suddenly daydreaming again. The exact color of Jay’s skin came back full force. The way the light reflected off it and the slight musky tinge to his body hit her hard as she let her memories of this summer replay in her mind.

Everything about it had been remarkable and unbelievable with Jay in it. She hadn’t quite placed her feelings, but she knew she had enjoyed any time she was able to spend with him. The fact that his family just happened to be conducting their annual family reunion there was enough to make her celebrate, but they had also clicked in a way she never had with anyone before, which was spectacular and terrifying.

They had continued their relationship of sorts through frequent e-mails, text messages, and even the occasional Skype session. Once in a blue moon she had even gotten a quick by some of his friends, though now she couldn’t remember their names.

Edward made a strange noise beside Bella, half choke and half laugh. Lily was too nervous to turn to inspect. The noise had interrupted her daydream and she suddenly looked around to the others to see if she had somehow revealed where she really was, instead of in a classroom full of people. No one seemed to even be aware that they were back here. It was if Lily, Edward, and Bella were on the outside looking in. It was a wonderful feeling to know that there was no one to watch your every move as closely as they had in that hell hole.

Lily looked to her right to determine what was causing Edward to make that noise. He stared ahead as did Bella, as if nothing had happened in the first place. Maybe she had imagined that too and she launched herself back into her daydream. His booming laugh resounded from her memories and she was transported again to the warm sand.

Before Lily had noticed everyone was up and getting their things together for the next class. She assumed the bell had rung to signal the end of class, though she hadn’t heard it. She reached down for her backpack and looked over to Bella, who was staring down at her quizzically, Edward behind Bella watching cautiously.

She stood up and waited for them to lead the way once again. She forced another smile as Edward looked into her eyes. He smiled back, but it was with a look of worry. She was unsure what could cause that for him other than the fact that she probably looked crazy half a second ago. She got up in the next instant and followed obediently, asking no questions. She was deep in thought as she walked contemplated what it meant that she was imagining so much later. Also, her daydreams seemed to be more frequent in this place. Thought she would probably get a text or two throughout the day she knew she’d talked to him, but she was unsure of when she would see Jay again. Her daydreams were what probably helped her cope so much with all the change.

“Change and lies,” she thought.

She followed silently behind the pair again and took in her surroundings and she looked over all the handmade posters revealing the school’s recent happenings. She ran into Edward’s back as she hadn’t noticed they had stopped. Lily was suddenly very aware of how strong Edward was or unmoving rather. It was if he was a statue, made of stone, and it was a bizarre feeling. She backed away instantly and looked over at Bella, feeling as if she had run headfirst into a brick wall. Bella gestured for Lily to enter the classroom.

“You’re not in this class?” Lily said, sounding defeating. She noticed that Bella made no move to enter as well.

The idea of separating from Bella, even with Edward, was slight torture. All of the other kids had been too nervous to talk to her with Bella there and she was sure as soon as they weren’t together they would launch the thousand question assault. Lily didn’t know if she was quite ready for all of the attention again. She signed heavily and walked past Bella, giving her a pained smile.

“We’re in the class after this,” Bella reassured Lily, “And Alice is in this one too.”

As if out of thin air there was a tiny, dark-haired pixie at her left. Without any introduction Lily knew this must be Alice. Lily smiled in spite of herself as she looked over at the girl with the wide grin. Alice motioned to the back of the room where two desks sat near the wall. Maybe it was genetic that they wanted to sit as far away from the rest of the class as possible. It was if they were scared of the other kids. Lily obliged and placed her backpack across the back of her chair she assumed was hers turning in time to see the small, plump teacher take a seat behind her desk.

The bell rang and the last few stragglers entered the classroom, some at a slight jog, attempting to appear that they had been in a hurry to get there. Alice began to speak and it all came out in almost a sing-song voice. It was very jarring to hear and it made everyone else’s voice sound like sandpaper compared to this beautiful chiming speech. Lily, not wanting to appear rude, turned to face her, but not without a quick glance toward the teacher to see if she planned on starting any time soon. She didn’t even look up from whatever she was engrossed in so Lily assumed it was safe enough.

She did not want to appear the troublemaker her first day here either. From what she had gathered of Bella she never caused any trouble and Lily didn’t want be the first to rock the boat. That’s all Charlie needed right now; to be told that the daughter he had just reunited with was getting punished at school.

She turned to see Alice smiling still and Lily returned the sentiment. She realized that the smiles with Alice, at least, are not forced or fake and for that she is grateful. Alice’s demeanor and sense of ease remind Lily greatly of how she felt around Bella and Charlie. She silently makes a note that Edward can’t be all that bad if this is his sister.

“So, are you settling in okay?” Alice questioned, though it was a polite inquiry. Lily knew it was sincere as she looked back into Alice’s gorgeous goldenrod eyes.

Lily simply nodded. She didn’t know if it was safe to get into a complete conversation. Alice seemed to know precisely how long to talk as she continued to ask other slightly probing questions.

“Is it strange being away from all your friends? How it is going with Charlie? Have you talked to Renee yet?” Alice blurted out all at once “Oh and feel free to not answer anything. I just know that I would be bursting at the seams to talk about all the new experiences… “

“…if it were me,” she added quickly.

Lily smiled back at her and realized that she had someone just for that, but she didn’t mind telling Alice any of it. She looked around to see if others were listening. She didn’t feel like her every word becoming gossip. When she glanced she noticed everyone seemed to be in their own conversation so she turned back to Alice.

“Bella and Charlie are great. Honestly, I’m a little nervous this is all a dream,” Lily scooted back quickly, not sure what made her say that.

She almost wanted to slap her hands over her mouth to keep the word vomit from coming out. Alice reached over to touch her arm, in an attempt to be comforting she was sure, but even with the thick jacket on Lily could feel an icy sting from Alice.

It was just as last night was with Edward. The instant he had taken her hand she had felt an icy bite. She knew of no other way to describe it and now it seemed a dull pain with Alice. She thought in one instant to move her hand, but decided against it. She desperately did not want to offend Alice. She had already said too much.

“I know what you mean,” Alice began, “When I was adopted by Carlisle and Esme it seemed like a fairy tale. I just kept thinking they would realize I didn’t belong here. That I wasn’t good enough.”

Lily was suddenly shocked when she realized she knew nothing of their lives. She had been in too big of a hurry to hate Edward that even after Bella had finally come to their room last night she hadn’t asked a single question. Now that last night was replaying in her mind she realized she hadn’t said anything to Bella at all. She reminded herself, once again, to apologize to Bella for last night.

“I didn’t know you were adopted,” Lily stated truthfully, “That is basically what I feel like; Almost like I don’t belong. I mean, I know I do when I see some little similarities between me and Bella, but I feel like I’ve stepped in the middle of the story instead of the beginning like you’re supposed to.

“If that makes any sense…” Lily said, trailing off. Her cheeks becoming red hot with the blush she knew must be there.

She looked away from Alice, hoping the teacher would save her and begin whatever lecture or lesson she had planned today, but there was no such luck. Their teacher remained head down and only seemed to even look up when it got a touch too loud. Lily had no choice but to turn back to Alice. She decided instead to simply turn Alice’s direction and look down at her desk, seemingly enthralled by what was scrawled there.

“It makes perfect sense,” Alice whispered and winked as Lily looked up.

Alice then turned to face the front of the room. Lily hadn’t even heard their teacher more, but there she was in front of her desk. Lily turned to grab her notebook from her backpack behind her again. She might love English and do very well, but that wasn’t the case with every subject. She turned back to their teacher and focused her attention on the board ahead. She would make the most of her time here. Now that she knew how close she was to already losing Bella to college she needed every moment she got with Bella was precious. She needed to find out the missing pieces to her life.