The Other Swan

Part 2, Chapter 3 - Twilight

She practiced throwing more energy blasts and formed shields around herself before breaking them down over and over. Rose did this for an hour when she finally felt spent. Her headache had disappeared and so she began her walk back towards her house.

Once inside she felt utterly exhausted but knew she didn't want to take a nap in her school clothes. She walked up the stairs to her bedroom where she donned an over sized pair of gray sweatpants that belonged to Paul and a large blue hoodie that belonged to Jared over her white tank top. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and she laid on her bed quickly falling asleep.

It was hours later when she woke to the smell of food. Her feet padded on the stairs as she walked down to find her dad pulling out a lasagna from the oven. Ever since Rose had started living with him, Charlie had started taking cooking lessons from Cora who worked at the diner. He used to just eat fish and whatever he had in the fridge but now he had a house with two people. He now could cook a large array of food and more often than not was the one cooking dinner.

Rose smiled as he cut up two slices and shuffled her feet towards him.

"Hi honey. I was just about to come get you. How was school?" Charlie made conversation as he handed her the plates and sent her to the dinner table.

"It was very long today. I just have a bit of homework for physics left to do. How are you? How was work?" Charlie huffed and grabbed two coke bottles. He brought them to the table and sat down across from her.

"Work was fine. Though, there's a situation a few towns over. Some kind of animal attack. Hopefully all stays good here." Rose hummed and took a few bites.

"Well the food is fantastic thanks dad." Charlie smiled. "Glad it's good darling."

They finished their meal in silence and Rose kicked her dad out the kitchen to clean up. When she was done she joined Charlie in the living room to do her homework while Charlie watched some baseball game. Rose loved these mundane moments she got to have. Her gift overwhelmed her at times because it told her she was not normal. It meant she had to keep a secret from her loved ones to keep them safe. And although she loved the Cullens, they were like her in a way. Not natural. Something otherworldly.

Her boys and her dad made her feel most normal. Jared and Paul were always there for her and even though they didn't know about her gift, they knew everything else about her. They knew how she took her teas in the morning (two scoops of sugar, one ounce of creamer), they knew her favorite color (a deep forest green), they even knew her favorite place to be (the cliffs just as the sun is setting.)

Speaking with Bella that morning however reminded her of her old life. Of constantly being compared to her sister. To their mother, Bella was always the favored one. She made less noise, was less of a problem child. Although Bella was clumsy, she didn't find herself in the practice of running off to go searching for dangerous animals like Rose frequently had. It made Rose wonder how things would be if Bella arrived to Forks.

Rose really did miss her twin. She just felt a secret shame for not really wanting Bella to come to Forks. She wanted for Bella to get away from their aloof and sporadic mother but she also wanted to keep her happy bubble she had in Forks. She was nervous that if Bella came, it would mean everyone ignoring her again, it'd mean she'd have to endure the comparisons to her twin again.

While Rose knew it wasn't Bella's fault, it made their relationship always have a certain edge to it. It lowered Rose's self confidence and raised her defenses. Bella had long, gorgeous brown hair. She had a cute button nose and a soft chin. She didn't need to dress up to be pretty.

Rose was similar to Bella with her dark brown hair, but she had her mother's tan. She had her dad's nose, long and curved upwards at the end. Although, her eyes she got from her mom, dark green until the sun hit them. She didn't think she was that pretty in comparison to her effortlessly gorgeous twin.