The drive back to Forks was nerve-racking, and I was glad Demetri let me borrow his iPod for the drive. I didn't know it was so obvious how anxious I was. Besides, the Cullen's, I wanted to see Charlie so bad. I wanted to comfort him somehow, but I couldn't think of anything that would work. It only took four hours but we arrived in town and first headed towards the high school. When Afton went on his fact finding mission, he found out the ceremony was being held in the auditorium of the school, since there wasn't a place in Forks that could hold so many people.
I was moved at the idea that there were so many people that turned out to see my memorial when we arrived at the parking lot. People were parked on the lawns because there were no more spots available. I didn't know I was so popular.
"We should have different names, Bella." Demetri said as I placed my hands on the handle of the door. "For obvious reasons, you especially. I don't know how much your friends know about the guards, so me and Corin should as well."
The both of them stared at me as if I was their leader. I shook my head in disbelief, as I wasn't even planning on speaking to anyone today. But then again it was always good to be prepared. "Okay, umm, Corin is Cayla, Demetri, you will be David, and I'm Brianna. How's that?"
"And our cover story?" Corin, I mean Cayla asked.
"We're all friends of Bella's from Phoenix. Me and Cayla are sister and brother, and we thought of Bella as a sister. Brianna, you'll be my girlfriend." I didn't even have time to protest since Demetri and Corin got out of the car as soon as the story was cemented. Hurried out after them, and slammed the door.
"David, can I speak with you for a moment?" I asked, calling him back towards the car. Corin stopped where she was staring back at us. Demetri walked back and then put his arms around me.
"Listen babe, don't think for a second that Aro won't kill your precious Cullen's if you don't play nicely. So lighten up, and be my girl." I cringed slightly as I realized that he was leaning in for a kiss. In my head I vowed that this would be the only time I allowed myself to cringe at Demetri kissing me. He made it very clear that if I wanted the Cullen's to live, I had a role to play. I felt his lips make contact with mine, and imagined I was kissing Edward. "Now that's what I'm talking about." Demetri said when we pulled out of the kiss.
I straightened myself up and slipped my arm around his waist, while his arm naturally fit along my shoulders. "Finally!" Corin said as we made our way over to her. "I thought you two were going to miss the memorial." I sent my shield around Demetri and Corin, and we walked to the auditorium. We made sure that we were following others to the right building since none of us had technically "visited" Forks before. Everyone was staring at us as we walked alongside them into the large area. Corin was able to give us a tan, but she couldn't manage to get rid of the immortal glow as I called it. We were still too gorgeous for the likes of Forks.
"This was a bad idea." I whispered to Corin and Demetri. "The Cullen's are going to know what we are immediately.
"Not really, my gift is kept a secret from anyone outside of Volturi. Eleazar is the only one that knows, and he's been forbidden to speak about the gifts of other vampire's. Once they see our eyes, they'll be just as confused as any other vampire that's seen us in disguise. We'll be fine." Corin assured me.
I looked around the room and quickly found Renee, Phil, and Charlie sitting together. It didn't matter that they were in the front row; I'd always be able to recognize Renee's bobbing head. Both Phil and Charlie were comforting Renee, who was sobbing into a well worn tissue. "I have to speak to them." I said to my newest companions, who followed my gaze to my parents. We walked down the aisle of the auditorium gracefully, and one look at my mother and I wished I could cry the tears that were pouring down her face.
"Um, I'm so sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Dywer, I don't know if you remember me. But my name is Brianna, this is David and Cayla. We were really close friends of Bella's back in Phoenix. We heard what happened and we wanted to be here."
"Oh yes of course, I do remember you." Renee said in between sobs. "It's so nice of you to make the trip all the way out here." For once I was glad that my mother was so harebrained. She introduced us to Charlie, and to Phil, though we commented that we knew Phil as well.
"Since you've come all the way from Phoenix, I think it's only fair that you three sit up here with us. Maybe you'd like to say a few words?" Charlie asked. I wanted to hug him so much, I never knew that in our short time together, that I'd feel so drawn to him. And it had absolutely nothing to do with a blood thirst for him, though I was glad we hunted several miles outside of Seattle. Out of respect for me, Corin and Demetri stuck with animal blood, though they made me promise that on the return trip they could hunt humans. I was grateful for the compromise.
There were three empty chairs next to Charlie and, Corin and Demetri deferred the seat closest to Charlie to me. I whispered a quiet thanks to them, for being here. Despite the fact that I hated the role I had to play in order to safely be here, I was glad that Corin and Demetri were there because they were the only ones I could turn to. Demetri held my hand as I scanned the rest of the room. Across the middle aisle, I could see most of the student body mourning me. My dead heart ached at the sight of Angela curled into Ben's arms, crying. I rolled my eyes at Lauren and Jessica crying into each other's arms. Fakers. They knew they hated me, why were they even here? What I wouldn't give to hear the thoughts of Mike, Tyler and Eric though. They were all probably devastated that neither of them got to fulfill their fantasies of me.
Thinking about mind reading immediately brought my attention back to Edward. I was about to look around the room again when I noticed all of the Cullen's walking through the door at once. My gorgeous god walked in between Carlisle and Esme, who were practically holding him up. Alice was also being led in by Jasper, while Rose strutted in next to Emmett, completely unfazed. I had no idea what I could have possibly done to her that she hated me, but whatever it was she felt no remorse for me.
I turned to Charlie, and asked, "Who are they?" Charlie looked up to see who I was talking about.
"Oh that's the Cullen family. The tall blond guy up front is Dr. Carlisle, and his wife Esme is the female with the long reddish brown hair. For whatever reason, they couldn't have children so they choose to adopt. Those are all the kids there. The boy in the middle, is Edward. He is, sorry was, Bella's boyfriend.
"Oh. At least she was happy before she was taken. She was so lonely in Phoenix, knowing that she found someone here that she loved makes me happy." I said, I hoped there would be a few words that could be said that would help comfort Charlie and Renee.
I continued to watch Edward and his family, when I noticed that he stiffened in Carlisle and Esme's arms. He looked up and around the auditorium frantically as if he was searching for something. For someone. For me. I forced my eyes off of the Cullen's and asked Renee for a tissue, then laid my head into Demetri's broad shoulders. He responded a little too well and held me close to his body.
Peeking through the tissue in my hand, I could see that Edward was now staring at my trio, no doubt trying to read our minds. I double checked the bubbles around my friends and was confident that their minds would be secure against Edward's attacks. The Cullen's each took turns greeting Phil and then my parents. My dad then introduced them to us, forgetting our names of course before explaining that we were long-time friends from Phoenix. We kept somber looks as Edward stared at me in bewilderment. As he was being escorted to the row of seats behind us, I could have sworn I saw him smell his hand after he shook mine.
Of course. My scent. As a human, he often said I was his personal brand of heroin. I had no idea what I smelled like to him now, though since there was no human blood in me by now, I couldn't possibly smell as strong as I had. Maybe similar, I prayed for similar. Though how would I explain the similarities? Not only did I possibly smell the same, but he also couldn't read my mind or Demetri or Corin's minds. He also wouldn't be able to hear our hearts beating. Oh God, this was a bad idea.
I was glad Mr. Weber started the ceremony at that moment with an opening prayer. I tried fervently to focus on the words of his prayer, and the rest of the ceremony, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Edward's eyes were drilling holes in my back. I tried picturing his face in the strained look he had the first time I saw him in Biology. I honestly couldn't tell if I was fidgeting out of habit or if I was nervous.
Charlie's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, when I realized that he was calling Edward to say a few words. Edward slowly got up and made his way to the podium. He adjusted the microphone, and his lyrical voice rang through the sound system.
"From the day I first met her, I was in love with her, I just didn't know it then. I was stubborn and it took me months to realize it. She apologized for things that she had no control over, and was exceptionally clumsy. But despite all that, to me, she was by far the most graceful person I knew. She was beautiful in every way to me, and there is no one that could ever replace her. My family loved her: My parents saw her as another daughter, my siblings had a friend and confident in some cases, and I had love. Bella, and I, were nearly inseparable. My only wish is that on that day, we stuck together then. Maybe then, she'd be here today, and this memorial wouldn't be necessary. With all my heart I love her and I miss her terribly. I don't think I can imagine life without her."
I felt something tugging in the back of my mind. I closed my eyes to try to bring it to the fore front, but it wouldn't work. There was something that I needed to remember, something from when I was human, but it wasn't coming to me at all.
I averted my eyes because I didn't want to see Edward so grief-stricken. But suddenly, a thought presented itself to me. He left me. How could someone plan on leaving the one that loved them the most; tell that very same person that they don't love back, and leave? But when something happens, he want to stand around and tell everyone how much he loved me, and make everyone believe him? I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't listen to his lies, so I hurried out of the auditorium through the nearest exit. Behind me I could hear Demetri tell Charlie that Bella and I were really close back in the day.
I clung to the wall as if it was my best friend, and I wanted to hold on as if my life depended on it. I felt myself being flipped around so that now my back was to the wall, and I was staring into David's very green eyes. He gave me a kiss, this time soft, not as passionate, and I was a little shocked that I liked it, I didn't even need to picture Edward this time. "Are you ready to go babe?" He asked.
"No." I shook my head. "I'm okay. I just needed to get out of there for a minute. It's a little overwhelming to be back. I'm okay, we can go back in." I fell into his embrace, and we walked back into the auditorium together. Edward was just finishing his speech when we took our seats.
Charlie nudged me and asked me if I wanted to say any words, which I quickly declined. First, though my voice now sounded like a wind chime, it still sounded too close to what my human voice sounded like. Secondly, I was terrified of people watching me make a speech. Actually I was just terrified of people watching me period. What did surprise me was that Demetri went up to the stage to speak.
"Um, Good afternoon. My name is David, and along with my sister and my girlfriend, we were really good friends of Bella's when she lived in Phoenix. The word friend doesn't even describe Bella, she was more like a sister to the three of us. When me and my sister got the news, well needless to say, we were all devastated. It's hard saying goodbye to someone who was family. When Bella made the decision to move to Forks, she worried that she wouldn't fit in anywhere. I often joked with her since she was so pale, I was kicking her out of Phoenix. I also told her that I'd sneak in her baggage and make the move with her, just so she wouldn't be alone. I just want to say, though I never did make it out here to visit her, I'm happy that she wasn't alone. You being here today, makes me happy. Thank you."
When Demetri made his way back to his seat, I stood up and opened my arms to him. I grabbed him around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That was beautiful. Thank you." I whispered to him. Mr. Weber got up after Demetri, and closed the ceremony. It was time to face the crowd now. First person I greeted was Charlie again, since he was the closest to me. "I'm so sorry for your loss Mr. Swan."
"She was everybody's loss, kiddo. But thank you for coming such a long way to be with us. I know Bella would have made a fuss of it, but I truly appreciate it." I nodded my head as I made my way to Renee. She was in no shape to speak, so we just hugged. Phil spoke for her and thanked me for coming again.
I overheard Charlie telling Demetri that the Cullen's were hosting a repast of sorts at their house for close family members and friends, and by all means that included us as well. Corin and Demetri agreed to follow him to the house since the Cullen's "mysteriously" disappeared. I wished they hadn't since I couldn't stand the torture anymore. Maybe I could convince them that I was ready. I signaled to Corin that I was going out to the car, but told her to stay when she was going to follow me. 'I'm fine. Really, stay a bit. We don't have to make it too obvious.' She nodded, and continued a conversation that Charlie had struck up with her and Demetri.
As soon as I walked into the overcast sky, I remembered that Demetri had the keys, but I started to make my way over to the truck. At least I could just sit on the roof for a bit. Maybe pretend to capture the nonexistent sun. Suddenly, I felt a warm hand grab my wrist and spin me around. For the second time today, my back was pushed against a wall. I looked frantically in the black eyes of my former boyfriend and remembered my act. "Owww. What the hell's the matter with you!" I exclaimed.
"Who are you?" He hissed at me. I looked around but there was nobody to hear us.
I opened my mind briefly so that Demetri could track me. 'Guys, I need you. Edward has me trapped.' I slammed my shield shut so that there was no way Edward could read my mind. "My name is Brianna Johnston, I'm from Phoenix." I pulled the first last name I could think of.
"What are you? Why do you smell like Bella?" He growled at me again.
I shook my head in disbelief. "What am I? What are you? Some kind of freak, who goes around sniffing people? Eww, gross. Get off of me!" I pushed him away, though I probably shouldn't have. I couldn't tell just yet how much of his strength he was using against me. Just then, Corin and Demetri came from around the corner.
"Babe! There you are! Is this guy bothering you?" He asked as he ran towards me protectively. I was shocked that my body responded the same way and ran into his body. He wrapped his arms around me, and I took care to act like I was nursing a hurt wrist. "What's your deal man?"
"Nothing. Just mistaken identity I guess." Edward muttered as he started to stalk towards the parking lot. "By the way David, is it?" Demetri nodded though Edward didn't hesitate. "What's her last name?"
'Johnston,' I "told" him without taking my eyes off of Edward.
"It's Johnston. Why?" Demetri asked.
"Hmph." Edward said before disappearing altogether in a blur.