when I woke up the next day, it's not morning anymore. around noon, I became restless and finally left my bed. after using the bathroom, brushing my teeth and washing my face thoroughly, I went to the kitchen for something to eat. Bella and Charlie were both sitting at the little dining room table together by the window, talking.
"hey," my dad said after a sip from his mug. "have fun last night?"
I nodded. "yeah."
I smiled to myself, pouring some cheerios into a mug, dry. I sprinkled a little cinnamon into it.
"what are you smiling about?" Bella said, smirking. "did Jacob finally ask you out?"
I rolled my eyes. "no," I mumbled. "I don't think he even likes me like that."
my dad chortled and cleared his throat, pretending like he didn't laugh. "honey, he's a boy with eyes. of course he likes you."
"I don't know. his hairs too long," I said with a shrug. I joined them at the table. this is probably the most conversation they've gotten out of me in weeks. I'd let them have it.
"is that all?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow.
I shrugged again, taking a spoonful of cereal.
dad asked to take us out for the day, like a family. we drove around together to revisit some of the places we went when we were younger. our favorite park, the waterfall, the mall, sam's pizza, and the arcade. by the time we got home, dad was exhausted and took a nap on the couch in front of a football game.
"I was gonna go to Edwards tonight," Bella said, unsure. "but I don't want to leave you with nothing to do..."
"it's fine," I said with a nod. "I could do some homework or something."
"do you... wanna come over? you could meet his siblings, his dad, Carlisle. they're all really nice. we mostly just watch movies or play board games..." she said slowly, trying to find something to bait me with, probably so Edward could force his dad to find me fork's best psych or something like that.
"uh, I don't know..." I said, trying to find some good excuse.
"they have a game cube..."
Edwards house was bigger than any house I'd ever seen in forks. I guess they needed a big house for the size of their family, though.
I soberly, cautiously walked through the front door with Bella and was met by Edward and a beautiful girl I recognized from school. she had short, dark hair and looked as if she walked out of Alice in wonderland. I really got a kick out of her name being Alice.
we all went to a large family room where there were big comfortable seats and a couch surrounding a grand TV with cabinets of movies, games and systems. I was kind of in heaven.
"Bella says you're a Mario party fan," Edward said, watching me eye the games in the cabinet. "we can play, if you'd like."
I nodded enthusiastically. when he asked me to pick one out, I chose the fifth one and handed it to him.
"where's everyone else?" I asked, settling into the couch next to Bella. she looked so thin. I wanted to punch her in the head.
Edward gave me a funny look, like he knew what I was saying but thought it was strange or humorous. "um, well my mom and sister went out to get some groceries, and the others are catching a movie," he said, moving some stuff around, plugging the system in and starting it up. Alice sat perched on one of the arm chairs, looking out of place and tiny. she eyed me up and down, but not in a perverted or threatening way.
I couldn't get past how the two of them looked. so perfect, yet their skin was deathly pale. they seemed healthy and moved about well enough. it was inexplainable. the irises of their eyes had this bright yellow-orange color that just didn't make sense to me. I thought maybe they wore contacts to be interesting and fashionable.
Edward handed me and Bella a gamecube controller, and when he tried to hand one to Alice, he just dropped it in her lap. she was staring blankly into space. I wondered if she was having a seizure or something.
I nudged bella and nodded my head towards Alice, mouthing "she okay?". Bella nodded, so I didn't draw more attention to it.
when we started the game, I immediately chose Yoshi before anyone else could. Bella chose peach, Edward chose boo and Alice chose daisy.
at first, Edward and Alice were undefeated in the mini games. it was insane. Bella and I stood no chance at all. about halfway through, though, it seemed like they were trying to let us win.
towards the end, a man came down the stairs and went into the kitchen. he stood at the counter, moving some papers around. I could only assume this was Edwards father, Carlisle. he was so much more handsome than I could've imagined. I tried not to stare at him.
at the end, Bella had won the game and was crowned the superstar. I rolled my eyes, fully knowing that Edward and Alice let her win. it was so corny.
Alice excused herself to the bathroom and Edward called in his father. I watched as the beautiful man strolled into the room. oh my god, I just wanted him to hold me. I thought I would be healed for life if he just held me in his arms for, oh, five minutes or so?
smirking, as he often did, Edward introduced his father and i. "ada, this is my father, Carlisle. Carlisle, this is Bella's sister, ada."
"pleasure to meet you," Carlisle said with the corners of his lips forming a slight smile. he reached over and shook my hand. I felt like I should stand or bow, but I sat there stupidly. "how do you like forks? I understand phoenixville has a lot more sunshine."
I nodded. "yeah, uh, I like forks. it's quiet."
"if you think it's quiet, you'd really be in for a surprise at the hospital. I really see some... strange things," he said, shaking his head. "anyway, it was nice to meet you. Edward, I'll be in my office if you need me."
he turned and walked back up the stairs. I imagined myself asking Edward, "do you think he'll adopt me too?", but I'd rather die than say something so fucking embarrassing.
"so, um," Bella said awkwardly. "I kind of asked Carlisle to gather some information for you..."
I looked at her, thinking that she was so fucking bold. maybe Carlisle should find her a doctor, too, to help with her unusual obsessive relationship with Edward.
"don't look at me like that," she said, kind of pissed. "he just has some resources and stuff for you to look at. papers, I don't know. you could bring them home and give them a look or something."
I rolled my eyes and groaned, sinking into the couch. "do I have to?"
"you don't have to do anything," she said quickly, irritated. "but we think it would be a good idea."
"we? does his whole family know about this? me being a fucking mental case? that's real cool. you know I wanted a fresh start here," I said quietly, bitterly, but trying not to make a big deal out of this. not in front of other people.
"no, ade," she said, trying to take a deep breath and regain her lost patience. "it's just Edward and his dad. don't look at him like that," she said sharply, smacking my arm. "he's my boyfriend, I talk to him when I'm stressed. you can't blame me for that."
"whatever," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "whatever, fine. I get it. I'll go talk to him, I guess."
with Edwards directions, I slowly walked through the house, admiring the design. it was so open and bright. the lightning looked so natural. whoever had designed the interior- and I'm imagining they hired an interior designer- really put a lot of energy into creating a beautiful space. I walked up the stairs slowly, admiring the strange wall of graduation caps. that didn't make much sense to me. I suppose it symbolizes how much the family, or at least the father, appreciates education?
at the top of the stairs, I could see Carlisle's door was slightly open and a lamp was lit. I could hear him typing. I approached and softly knocked at the door.
"yes? oh, hi, ada," he said kindly. his bright eyes were captivating. I was totally distracted by them. "you can come on in."
I did as he said and stood awkwardly in the room until he motioned for me to have a seat. I sat in a large study chair, one I could picture myself reading books in all day. he sat across from me with no tie in his collar. there were papers stacked at his desk where his laptop was, and a smaller pile on the other side by the lamp. there were tons of books on shelves in the room, many of which were antique medicine books. I was very impressed.
"so Bella told me a little bit about what was going on with you," he said, starting slowly. "she mentioned that you were maybe having a hard time adjusting to forks, which I completely understand. when I first moved here, it was hard to keep my head up and get things done."
I didn't doubt a single word he said. he radiated genuineness brighter than the biggest star.
"I have some materials here for you to look at, if you'd like," he said, passing me a small pile of printed paper and brochures. "you can take them home and look them over. please, don't be offended if something is listed and you feel as though I made a mistake. I wanted to make sure you had plenty of options, whatever struggles you may be dealing with."
I nodded and flipped through his suggestions. there was a brochure for a rehab, an eating disorder clinic, a mental and behavioral health center, and a few typed pages of local therapists, psychologists, energy healers, shamans, yoga teachers, and youth groups. he really had a holistic array of options for me here.
"wow, um, thank you," I said, unsure of what to say. this was a really strange situation and I wasn't sure how I got there.
"it's no problem at all. and, I just wanted to mention this to you. first I should say, there is no pressure whatsoever. I'm a practicing doctor, and, while I'm not a psychiatrist or anything like that, I've been working with people for a long, long time. I brought up some children that came from rough backgrounds," he said, referring, I assumed, to his adopted children. "if you just need someone to talk to or if you need some advice or anything like that, I'm going to give you my phone number. you can call me whenever you want, or you could even come in for a chat."
he started to scribble on the back of a card. I felt like I was being given the golden ticket. I would take any excuse to see this man, even if it were just to cry about mr. Anderson or something.
"thank you," I said, taking the card from him. "that's really nice, I appreciate it."
he nodded. "of course. did you have any questions for me?"
I shook my head.