Discover Twilight

chapter ix

Since the Cullens have left Bella has launched herself into a deep depression. Edward abandoning her, completely gutted her. Day after day, she sits in her room staring out the window in the direction Sam found her. She doesn't eat, talk, hardly moves from that spot, and she can't sleep. Like clockwork the nightmares came, very time waking up screaming bloody murder as if her heart was being physically ripped from her chest. There was nothing Charlie or I could do to help her, nothing we did had any effect on her. Jacob has helped me through this, giving me a distraction by finishing his Rabbit.

October passed.

Then November.

December.

January began slowly.

Today, since it's Junior S.A.T testing, I'm dipping and going down to the Rez to help Billy out until Jacob gets out of school. I pull my hair into a messy ponytail, barely containing my wild curls that I got from my mother, as I grab my to-go coffee cup and head outside to the chill January air. I see Charlie out by the street, stuffing the trash into the bins. He's talking with our neighbor, Bob Marks, who's leading out of his garage two old, beat up motorcycles. I set my coffee cup on the roof of my truck and jog over to inspect the bikes. As I reach them and kneel down beside the old blue 1999 Honda Dirt bike, I hear Charlie chortle behind me addressing Mr. Marks, "It's about time you got rid of those, Bob. Seen one too many bikers smeared on the highway."

I chuckle rolling my eyes to inspect his 1990 Yamaha Yz 490 when Mr. Marks pats me on the back, "Save the lecture, Chief. Soon as the garbage truck hauls 'em off, you and my wife can rest easy."

Both the bikes aren't in horrible shape and between Jake and I we could salvage them for less than they're worth using old parts and doing our own work. I look at our neighbor thinking of an asking price for the two of them, "Mr. Marks, what do you say I take them off your hands? My friend and I love working on engines and cars and we just finished our last project."

He looks shocked and pleased by my offer looking sideways at Charlie, who's ready to have a conniption fit, nodding in agreement. I thank him taking his hand and shaking it as Charlie groans.

Mr. Marks and I both laugh at Charlie then Mr. Marks remembered a question he had for my uncle, the Chief of Police, "Oh, hey, what's the word on that bear problem? Folks are saying they're huge."

Bella comes out the front door looking like Hell, as per usual with her zombie-like appearance. Charlie seems to notice Bella too, distractedly answering our concerned neighbor, "That's just... talk..."

He trails off watching Bella walk to her truck, Bob follows our gaze seeing her too, "How you doin' there, Bella?"

Bella doesn't respond. Bob gives Charlie an understanding shrug and helps me put the bikes in the bed of my truck before heading back inside his home. Bella gives me a small sad smile as she opens her truck door but it gets slammed shut again by Charlie, "That's it."

"That's what?" Bella asks in a hoarse voice, not having talked to anyone in nearly 4 months aside from her nightly screaming.

Charlie looks at me silently asking me to tell her what's going on but I grimly shake my head in disagreement as I take a drink of my coffee. He sighs, "You're going to Jacksonville to live with your mother."

She gasps looking rapidly between her father and I, shocked, "What? Why?"

Charlie doesn't know how to handle Bella anymore, honestly we've tried everything but she doesn't want to get over it. I knew from day one those ice cold, inhumanly beautiful weirdos were no good. And I voiced that opinion numerous times to Bella and to their faces in an attempt to figure out why they gave me such a weird feeling. I sigh looking down at my Converse, not bringing myself to look Bella in her tortured brown eyes, "It's just - we don't know what to do to help you anymore. You don't act like someone left you; more like someone has died."

She looks away feeling guilty for that, knowing how ridiculous it may seem to me, someone who literally just had someone die, but that's how it feels to her. "I'm not leaving Forks," Bella whispers barely audible.

"Bells, the bastard's not coming back," Charlie says with me nodding in agreement with him.

She nods knowing this all too well. He huffed, "It's not normal, this behavior. And frankly, it scares the hell outta me, Kota and your mother. Go to Jacksonville, Baby. Make some new friends."

"I like my old friends," she chokes looking at me, "I like being around Kota."

I smile at her and look to Charlie, who's clearly made sad by his daughter's pain. He tucks a piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear, "You never even see them anymore."

"I do, too. In fact, I'm... um... Jessica and I are going to Port Angeles tomorrow. Shopping." Bella leans against her door waiting for our reactions to her new plans. I can tell she came up with that outing in the spur of the moment, purely based on her demeanor.

"You hate shopping," I say confused and suspicious of this so called outing she has planned with Jessica, the girl in our friend group she very much dislikes and hasn't talked to in months. And I would know because Jessica thought it necessary to talk to me every chance she could about any and everything, never catching on to the fact that I would rather befriend the Cullens than her.

Bella hears the suspicion in my voice shooting daggers at me, silently challenging me to not expose her,  "That's how good a friend I am."

Charlie, however, bought the whole thing sounding pleased, "Alright. Shopping."

Bella gets into her truck driving toward the school leaving Charlie and I to stand there in awkward silence. Charlie hits one of the bikes, "Really Kota? You and Jake are gonna fix these up now?"

I laugh shrugging my shoulders as I climb into my front seat shoving the keys into the ignition, my truck roars to life. "Charlie, fixing cars on La Push is all I have really. I'm already getting straight A's, Mom just died, my brother is treating me like the Plague but Jake and Billy and You are the only people that don't treat me like a baby bird. And I'll be safe, I've done worse things than drive a motorcycle. I have a feeling that Bella's gonna try and help us to have someone to be around so I've got this planned out Charlie."

He laughs at me, "Alrighty. I've never had to worry about you before so you'll be fine now. Just stay out of trouble and keep an eye on Bells." I nod as I reverse my truck out of the driveway and down the street to Jake's house. By the time I get to the reservation I leave them at Jake's with a note:

hey jake. I saw these and thought this could be our next project. They're not as bad as they look I've already checked. I'll be over tomorrow at 9 to work on them. happy birthday Buddy. Call me.

love- kody