Darkness Will Come to Light [1]

XXIV. Day One

Mel rested surprisingly well for being in a strange house. She laid in bed, thinking, for over an hour before dragging herself out of her bundle of blankets. She got dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a band tee from her bag, fixed her hair into a French braid down her back, and carefully added a thin layer of makeup to her face...

When her stomach made a long grumble for food, she finally gave in. Her bare feet padded down the wooden stairs as she made her way to the kitchen.

Carlisle sat the table with a steaming mug of coffee and a newspaper. Even the simple way that he read a newspaper was elegant. She suddenly felt shy when he caught sight of her with his liquid gold eyes.

"Good morning, Melaina. How was your sleep?" He set the paper down and smiled at her.

"It was okay," she murmured. She chewed on her lip anxiously as she hovered in the doorway between the stairs and the kitchen.

"Come in, dear. Have a seat." Mel did as she was told. "Are you hungry? Esme picked up some fresh bagels this morning. She wants to take you grocery shopping later, if you're up for it."

Mel nodded. "Okay, thanks."

Carlisle rose from his chair. He took his coffee but left his paper on the table. Mel didn't notice him pour the Columbian blend down the sink drain. She was focused on a squirrel running up a tree outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

A few moments later, Carlisle presented Mel with a decently large sized brown bag filled halfway with various bagels. It smelled heavenly. She chose one that looked familiar and took a bite of it plain. Mmm chocolate chip.

"Can I get you something to drink? I'm afraid we only have juice or water right now."

Melaina chose water. She ate quietly while her new foster father poured her a glass of cold water. Esme came up the stairs and joined Mel at the table. "Are you enjoying your breakfast?"

Carlisle set down her glass on a napkin and kissed his wife's soft cheek as he passed to take his seat.

Mel swallowed the last bite of her bagel and nodded. "I had the chocolate chip one. It was delicious, thank you."

Esme beamed at her. "We can get more later today, if you'd like. Would you like to go grocery shopping with me to grab food that you'll enjoy?"

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that."

Mel and Esme left for the grocery store in the Mercedes. During the fifteen-minute car-ride, they talked about how Mel wanted to decorate her bedroom. Apparently Esme dabbled in interior design as well as painting. Mel wanted to add twinkling lights with pictures hanging down around the border of her ceiling. The rest of her room just needed things from her old bedroom. Esme offered to paint whatever Mel wanted on her walls, so Mel had that to think about.

Melaina's first mistake was going food shopping when she was hungry. The bagel hadn't quite filled her enough. The cart was overflowing with everything from boxes of mac 'n cheese and frozen toaster strudels to bags of Doritos and jugs of sweet tea. If Mel so much as glanced at the food, Esme would pile one or two of them in the shopping cart.

Mel spent the most time in the snack aisle. Her stomach voted for Nilla Wafers and Mel mentally agreed. She tossed a box in the cart and planned to eat them as soon as she had a bowl of milk ready.

At the front register, Mel took in all of the groceries in the cart. "I'm so sorry, I can put some of this back--" she started.

Esme shook her head, her caramel hair bouncing on her shoulders. "No worries, sweetheart. I have it covered. We want you to feel welcome and comfortable in your new home."

"But won't the others want some say in the food they'll have to eat? I mean, I chose all of this. What if they don't like it?"

Her foster mother began lining up boxes and bags on the belt. "They have cars to get them the food they need, if they want something else."

"Oh." She figured that was true enough. She helped Esme unload and then reload the cart. Esme paid with a shiny silver card before they left the store.

Esme took the cart back inside while Mel situated the groceries in the back seat. She found a bag of M&M's and stuffed a few candies in her mouth before Esme returned. She wasn't sure if there were rules about eating in the car.

Melaina's second mistake that day was agreeing to go shopping with Alice. "Agreeing" was a term used lightly.

After returning home from the grocery store, Alice dragged her new sister away from helping Esme unload bags in the kitchen. "Agh, Alice--" Mel tried to complain. The words were barely out before they were in the garage by Edward's Volvo.

"Mom's got it under control. We're going shopping!" Alice cheered. Mel reluctantly agreed; she couldn't say no with all of the excitement oozing out of the pixie girl.

At the same time as driving thirty miles over the speed limit on the highway, Alice's arm shot out towards Mel. "Here, this is for you." Mel took the thin object gingerly between her fingers. It was a brand new Visa. 

Alice saw her hesitance and shook her head of spiky hair firmly. "Don't you be afraid to spend the money, Mel. It's the family account." 

Then the fun really began. 

Alice Cullen was filled with more energy than a can of Monster. She was bubblier than a shaken bottle of Coca-Cola. Mel was exhausted an hour in. There were only two places that Mel actually wanted to go to: Hot Topic and Dairy Queens. 

What could be better than an ice cream Blizzard and a plethora of new band t-shirts?

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Review or vote if you like the story so far! I'm trying to stay motivated and that helps a lot. A couple more chapters until Twilight begins. Thanks for reading♥