"Population, 1322!" I cheered loudly, cracking the window open, allowing rain to drip over my nose, and letting out a loud whoop. I look through the camera lens as I snapped random shots of Forks. I've never realized how beautiful this place was, and I would bet my life that all those pictures could get tons of likes on Instagram.
Charlie, our dad, laughed at that, but Bella rolled her eyes, sinking in her seat in the front. She made it clear more than once; she was embarrassed I was her sister.
"You are such a dork," she said, as though this fact was unbelievable.
"HEY!" I called loudly to a random group of girls that seemed around my- our- age. "WHAT GRADE ARE YOU?"
"ELEVENTH!" a brunette called back, "WHY?"
"HEY NEW CLASSMATES!" I cheered before the red light changed to green and we drove off.
"HI!" the group called back, and I waved goodbye.
"Seriously, you are the biggest dork I have ever seen," I hit Bella's head. "Hey!"
"Girls," Charlie warned, and I felt as though I was five again, so I giggled. He sighed, and suddenly glanced at us. "You know, when we found out your mom is pregnant with twins we were really excited."
"Now you regret it?" I asked with a charming smile, and he looked at me through the mirror, before averting his brown eyes back to the road.
"No," he said after a heartbeat.
"There was a pause," I called out. "It was a pause of hesitation! Dad! Are you sad I'm here?"
"No, honey. I'm very glad to have your over-energetic self in my car right now." He said in a strangely monotone voice. Charlie and Bella were never big in showing emotions, unlike me, but it was overly detatched.
"It sounds fake."
Charlie looked over at Bella, "your hair is longer."
"You're just gonna ignore me?"
"I cut it since you've last seen me," she said, confused. Way to make it awkward.
"Guess it grew out again."
"Yeah."
"Hello, a daughter you just said you'd rather not have," I sung from the backseat. It was cramped, and very annoying.
"Ashley, I love you, stop annoying me."
"It feels like a contradiction," I said very clearly. Bella gave me the strangest look I've ever seen, "what?" I wondered. "I've got something on my face?"
"No, just..." she furrowed her eyesbrows, and turned back around. "I didn't realise you can say such big words." I pursed my lips, and raised my camera, snapping some shots of her.
This will be my revenge.
"Oh, Ash. Are you still hyperactive?" Charlie asked, half- hoping I'd say no.
"Yup!" I cheered loudly, enjoying the fact Charlie was acting as though nothing changed. I've seen him at Christmas, which was just a month and a half ago, unlike Bella, that last saw him over six months earlier.
My bond with Charlie was much stronger, maybe because my favorite color was green and I actually liked the rain that was almost a constant visitor at Forks, Washington. Also, unlike Bella, I didn't find it as the most embarrassing thing in the world to drive in the police cruiser, which was Charlie's car.
"Hey, dad!" I called all of a sudden, making him look at me through the mirror. "Are you and Billy still fighting?"
He looked embarrassed. "No, just avoiding the subject."
"Good," I hummed, pausing for a second before asking the question I've been wondering about. "So him and Jake can come?"
"Who is Jake?" Bella asked.
"Jacob Black," I furrowed my eyebrows, "remember? We used to play with his older sisters, the twins."
"Oh, right." Bella nodded, looking at the road again. Her voice was as flat as a table, and I figured she was just embracing the awkward in her.
"Yeah, they said they'll stop by soon."
"Good," I grinned, Jacob Black was one of my closest friends, Phoenix and Forks included.
My heart squeezed painfully, and a shaky breath barely left my lungs.
Perhaps right now, he was my only friend.
For a while a silence settled in, until we reached to the white house I was so familiar with. I grabbed my bags, happy that Charlie wasn't treating me like I was made of glass, and happy to be out of the small space that was slowly more and more suffocating.
"I cleared some shelves at the bathroom," Charlie announced as he opened the front door.
"Right, one bathroom," Bella muttered, walking up the stairs.
"No more long showers for you," I hummed happily. Bella's baths were getting on my nerves, she'd spend hours in there and leave no warm water, which I'd need at the cold Forks.
"The computer is at Bella's room," Charlie said, which made Bella look nervously at me. She knew I'd spend hours in her room, sending e-mails to my friends and transferring photo files from my camera to the computer. I peeked inside her room, which looked exactly the same since she was around six.
When Bella was younger, she threw a tantrum about coming to Forks, but I told my mom I'd rather keep visiting (my exact words, in fact, were "nah, I like dad. I like Billy, and I like having stories Ari, Jess and Nik don't know."), so while her room stayed the same, mine changed.
Bella set down her bags, and walked with me to my room, which was painted in blue- like the rest of house has been for years- but had all kinds of things that made it mine, like the queen size bed that was decorated in a collection of funny and cute pillows, or the fact that the walls were filled with drawings and pictures from the time I spent here.
"Oh, Bells, here's a picture of Billy and Jake from Christmas," I told her, gesturing to a picture that was hanging right next to my night stand.
"Oh, I remember Billy," Bella suddenly realized, though her voice was bitter. "From the times we went fishing." I grinned; Bella loathed the times we spent fishing.
I, on the other hand, found the seeping boredom relaxing.
I walked to the closet, where a Sylvester doll was laying. "SYLVESTER!" I cheered, hugging the doll to me. "DAD! WHERE IS TWEETIE?"
"UNDER YOUR BED!"
Bella looked at me funny as I ducked, looking under the bed. Tweetie and few teddy bears were laying there, so I pulled them all out. All were dusty.
"You really are a dork."
I rolled my eyes, "at least I'll have a normal room in few hours. You won't, it'll be boring and plain." I paused, before I smirked evilly. "Like you."
"Whatever--" A horn honked, and both me and Bella walked to the window of my room, seeing a man in a wheel chair and a dark haired boy walking out of a red truck.
"Jake!" I squealed, running down the stairs, Bella walking slowly after me and calling me to be careful and not slip down and hurt myself. I ignored her, flinging the door open, "JAKE!" I cheered, tackling him into a hug.
He caught me, hugging me closer to him. "Ash!" he smiled, "it's been too long."
"It's been less than two months," I said, pushing him off with a grin. "Hey Billy, looking as good as always, though you have some new wrinkles."
"I'll ignore the second part, because Charlie doesn't allow me to ram you in the ankles, so, for the first part, right back at ya," he smiled warmly at me. Bella soon emerged out of the house.
"Bella, you remember Billy Black," Charlie said, leaning on the truck.
"Yeah, you're looking good."
"Well, I'm still dancing," he smirked. "Good seeing you, Charlie hasn't shut up about it."
I looked at my dad, catching the embarrassment in his face.
"Am I the only one in this whole family who isn't awkward?"
"Probably," Jake replied. I grinned at him. Could it be that he was a few inches taller than last time we've met?
"Stop exaggerating Billy, or I'll roll you in the mud."
"After I ram you in the ankles," Billy told Charlie, starting to roll after him as he quickly walked to dodge him.
"They're so immature," I sighed as they acted like a couple of kids. Jacob smiled at me before turning to Bella.
"I'm Jacob," he offered a hand to shake. Bella shook his hand and smiled awkwardly. "We used to make mud pies when we were little."
"Right, no, I remember," Bella said, nodding. I wondered if she really did, or if she was saying it out of politeness. "Are they always like that?"
"Getting worse every time," I muttered, making Jake nod.
"Yeah, sometimes I think their mind is maturing backwards."
After a moment Charlie and Billy neared us again. "So what do you think?" Charlie asked, hitting the truck lightly.
"Sexy as hell," I commented.
"Thanks for the compliment, Ash, but I was talking about the car," Charlie smirked.
"Me too. Sexy ain't good enough to describe you," I said sweetly. Bella seemed horrified at the interaction, but Billy and Jake grinned, used to us joking like that.
"Atta girl."
"The truck?" Bella asked.
"Think of it as a homecoming present," Charlie continued.
"This?" Bella questioned, pointing at the truck.
"Wait, for real?" I questioned, "Holy hell, that's so cool. I bet it can survive a tank driving over it."
Jacob laughed, but after a moment added "I can see it."
"Just bought it off Billy here," Charlie said awkwardly. "Figured that the two of you can share, seeing as Ashley isn't the biggest fan of driving."
"Wow," was all I managed. "That's really awesome, thanks dad."
"I even rebuilt the whole engine for you," Jacob added.
"Yeah, Jake's great with cars and stuff," I informed Bella.
"This is perfect!" Bella finally managed, "oh my God," she muttered, excited. She opened the door, hitting Jake in the process, "sorry," I laughed loudly, and she glared. "Dork."
I looked over my dad and Billy.
"So when are we going fishing?"
"After last time, never!" they both announced together.