bella turns a bit fishyy

chapter 31

Chapter 32

It's been a while since Victoria's attack. Agonizing, waiting seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. It didn't go by fast. No, each tick of the clock dragged on. Each one seeming further apart than the last.

Every moment was filled with tension, we were all waiting for Victoria to jump out from any corner and make her reappearance to ambush us all. They tried to hide their worry, put on a 'happy' and 'everything's all hunky dory' mask. Attempting to 'protect me', as Edward would put it. They did cover it well, though. No one really noticed anything abnormally strange from the Cullen clan at school. But, I guess, only if you knew them as well as I did, would you be able to see that they were on edge, ready to jump at a moments notice.

So I did worry, it wouldn't matter what they did, though. I knew what was coming and it never left my mind. Every sudden sound or movement made me jump. Every time I heard a door open, leaves rustle, or a shadow dance across the walls, I pictured a red haired vampire stalking me. It was seriously freaking me out, to an obnoxious extent. And it was either scaring or annoying Charlie. Even though I knew it would do nothing, I closed and locked all of the doors and windows, sleeping with the blinds shut and tucked safely in Edward's arms, taking every precaution I could.

Alice has seen quick flashes of Victoria, but never enough to know anything. We were walking through life knowing someone was going to jump out at us, but not when.

It has taken a while, but five months have passed. More specifically, January twelfth turned into June fifth. Yup. I'm graduating today.

All of the events that happened in those five months led us up to where we currently are: my father and I sitting in the living room waiting for Edward to arrive and bring us to the ceremony.

Charlie has become much more comfortable with the fact that his daughter lives in the world of the supernatural. He doesn't flinch when the word 'vampire' or 'mermaid' or 'werewolf' is brought up. Watching me use my powers doesn't freak him out anymore either. Okay, it freaks him out a little still, but otherwise, he is fine.

Speaking of freaking out… That is exactly what Charlie was doing when I got home from that fateful day. You'd have thought that he hadn't slept in weeks when he flung the front door open.

His clothes were rumpled, and I'm sure he slept in and worn them for the entire time I was gone. His hair was greasy and sticking out at every angle. There were purple shadows under his eyes, which looked slightly crazed. Overall, he basically looked like a drunken hobo. Oh! Let's not forget the numerous bags of junk food and empty beer bottles strewn around the living room. After he hugged me and rambled on about how insanely worried he was I scolded him for not taking better care of himself and the house.

The sound of Edward's car pulling up to the house brought me back to the present. I stood and ran to open the door just as Edward stepped on to the porch. I smiled and threw my arms around his neck. His snaked around my waist.

He bent his head to kiss my cheek, I could feel the smile on his lips. He pulled back and shot me his crooked smile.

"Well, hello there," he said in his honey voice. "Are you ready to graduate?"

I grimaced. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't wait to officially be out of high school. It was the whole concept of having to walk up on stage and get my diploma that I was dreading. Emphasis on the 'walking on stage' part.

Edward wasn't all that thrilled either. It meant we were getting closer to the out come of a certain decision made regarding my humanity. I guess I'm not really totally human anymore, though… So let me rephrase that: my fishy-humanity.