Waxing Gibbous

Welcoming (A)

It was in the Olympic Peninsula of Northwest Washington State, in a small town of Forks that I have lived out my teenage years. Under a near-constant cover of clouds where it rains on this town more than anywhere in the United States.

Normally, a rain filled town would not be high on the list of places someone would want to live, but as I drove from my large forest surrounded home to the tiny School of Forks High, I couldn't think of a place more peaceful.

Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. And when it snowed? It was beautiful. Ice covered the trees in intricate layers.

Now, there wasn't much excitement in this little town but when something does happen everyone seems to know about it. And it ignites a sort of explosion of excitement. Like when the Cullen's moved to town. It wasn't common for newcomers to settle here; their arrival was the biggest event since my mom's return.

My mom and dad married young, very young. My mom was 20 or 21, a year later I was born. I didn't know how my mom managed to maintain a good education while raising a child. Some people couldn't manage to do it outside of college, but my parents managed. My grandparents had to be a huge help and inheritances.

After I was born, my parents decided to move to Fairbanks. My mom was accepted to the medical school there, it was in the top ten nationwide, so it was hard for her to turn down that offer.

And it was in Fairbanks, Alaska where I was raised until I was about 10, when things turned for the worse. That's when my mom and I moved back to Forks. This is where my family called home, its where the only family I have currently resides.

My family has always been close, it wasn't strange in Forks for many generations to live close to each other, but rarely do they live in the same house. It's how my mom grew up, the home had housed my grandparents, great-grandparents and 6 great-uncles, though the family was passed on through my grandfather as the others didn't have children. Though my aunt technically lives with us and has her office at the house, she spends a good portion of her time at Mark's, her partner.

We have lived in Forks for 7 years now, and in that seven years only the arrival of the Cullens matched the excitement that the town was currently feeling, as Chief Swans, Charlie - my mother's boyfriend, daughter Bella was coming to town. In fact, she arrived just yesterday and would be starting school with everyone else today.

I felt sorry for the girl, not only was she in a new location but she was going to be like a new toy and everyone's going to be all over her. Not to mention it wasn't the beginning of the semester, Bella would have missed about two weeks of classes when she joins us.

I drove past the High school sign; it was the only thing that alerted you to its location. The school itself looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs you couldn't see its size at first.

School, it was one of my favorite places. I know that sounds odd for a teenager to say, but the school was so small, and everyone knew each other (including the teachers and staff) it was like a giant community gathering.

Apart from that, I just liked to learn. I loved science and math and art and in my free time I'm enjoyed hanging out with Jacob and tearing apart cars. I had never changed a tire before, but I liked to see all the parts working together. I enjoyed learning so much that I skipped a grade and was currently the only 16-year-old in the Junior class and was soon teetering on the line of graduating early.

When I pulled into the parking lot, it was starting to fill up, there was a line of traffic pulling in. Most of the cars were older, but Forks was also a small town – the biggest revenue happened in the summer months to tourist. It all made sense when you thought about it.

The richest families in town were the Cullens and my family; but my mom and aunt were both high paying doctors and my grandfather was a doctor and his father... so it made sense that the two families had the fanciest cars.

The Cullen's arrived in a fancy Infiniti that made me question how they all fit inside. 

My car was a shiny BMW, a BMW i8 that my aunt decided I needed, for some reason. The type of car didn't matter to me, just having a car was nice. It was a nice change of pace, being able to drive myself. It was a recent thing but the freedom of being able to do as I wished and go where I pleased was nice. Not that I wanted to leave all the time, but every once in a while.

I stepped out of the warm cabin of my car into the cold air, I was used to this though. And the right clothing could really make a difference, not to mention I have a poor immune system. I knew how to avoid getting sick.

My schedule was simple, Calculus was first. The classroom was small, like all the others, the desks were arranged in neat rows. I followed a few other students into the room putting my raincoat on the hanger as I entered the room. I got to my seat near the middle of the room just before the bell rang. Today was a lot like yesterday, just continuing of the chapter, formulas, and problems that I was able to understand quicker than my classmates.

When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, I left to my next class. Government The rest of the morning passed the same, take notes, pay attention, get bored, read ahead, complete the homework for the next few sections. Then English, then gym.

It was your typical high school day, with one exception – the new kid. Everywhere you went someone was gossiping about Bella. It was unnerving how something so trivial could cause such an uproar. All morning I heard about her, nothing bad of course, it was clear everyone was trying to figure her out but the sting of the Cullens left everyone a little skittish.

Thankfully I had gym before lunch, so I always had to opportunity to shower without the worry of being late, unlike some of my other classmates. And I made sure to bring extra clothes or underwear mainly-I couldn't put the same underwear I wore in gym on after a shower.

That would be disgusting and unsanitary.

After Gym and my shower, I would head to the cafeteria to join my friends for lunch, though friends is a strained word. We hung out but that was about it, I never told them any secrets, except Angela, I would trust her with anything.

I wasn't surprised to see Bella sitting with them, I figured Jessica or Mike would be the first ones to welcome her. They were extroverts I wouldn't say, was an extrovert like them. I like meeting new people, but I also enjoy my alone time, so maybe I was an extroverted introvert.

Or maybe I was an extrovert and didn't mesh well with other extroverts. More likely I didn't mesh well with Jessica; I didn't like gossip. And she was a gossip.