When I got to school the next morning there was an overwhelming sense of dread. I couldn’t tell you why, but something just seemed wrong; off kilter. Outside of my car my breath fogged in front of me, and something small and wet, too soft to be rain, sprinkled across my cheeks with the next gust of wind. Was this…snow? I’d never seen snow before, not for real. Whenever I visited Ricky it was always during the summer, and my first Christmas was zapped with the rest of my baby memories.
It wasn’t like how I expected, and there was hardly any of it. With my first step away from the truck my feet flew out from underneath me and I landed squarely on my side next to the bumper. Ok, never mind, I didn’t like snow. This wasn’t even snow though, it was like all of the moisture on the ground had frozen over to a slick invisible layer. How in the heck had I not gotten into a car crash on the way here?
As I lifted myself up to my feet, using the hood for support, I saw a criss cross of chains on my tires. A quick survey of the other three had me realizing that Ricky must have put them on the night before. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Part of me, a part I hadn’t realized was as big as it was, swelled with gratitude and an unknown weakness. Sure, we got along, but this was genuine physical proof that he cared about my wellbeing enough to be out in the cold putting these things on. What he lacked in words he made up for in action.
Now I really felt like an ass. An ass that needed better shoes for this type of weather. This flakey stuff wasn’t all it had been chalked up to be, but maybe when there was more of it it’d be better. Right now it just seemed like a sloshy mess.
My hair was damp from all of the flakes that landed on it on my trek to the doors of my building, and I couldn’t stop the shivering. Man I needed to get used to the cold.
“Hey!” two hands gripped my arm with a light jerk and I nearly slipped back on the wet tiles of the floor, my heart wrenching in my chest.
Jessica’s wide eyes and even wider smile only barely calmed me down. She’d just been playing, trying to surprise me, but something about this day was just making me way too jumpy.
“W-Whoah, sorry, didn’t mean to knock you over.” She was stronger than I thought and helped me straighten back up but it was I that had to pull away from her hands. This girl was way too…comfortable. Maybe that’s just how small town people were, after all most of them had known each other their whole lives. Still, being touched so quickly made me uncomfortable, but I managed a small smile as we started down the hallway,
“It’s cool, did you need something?”
She shook her head and her dark curls swayed in front of her face, “Nope, just saw you and figured I’d say ‘hey’. How are you liking school?”
I shrugged noncommittally, “It’s fine I guess. Bio’s pretty easy, we already covered this stuff before I left so right now it’s a bird course.”
“So, some of us were thinking of getting together, maybe going to the beach.” All right, I guess we weren’t talking about school anymore. Why had she even bothered to ask me?
“This place has a beach?” The words came out laughed but I couldn’t help it: Forks was the last place that made me think of sun and waves. Her head bobbed from side to side, weighing out how to word what she was thinking no doubt,
“Well kind of, it’s in La Push. It’s actually pretty fun even in the winter, we’re not gonna be swimming or anything, just like, you know, a day trip.”
La Push. I thought back to Billy Black, the man that had given me my truck, and that was more than enough motivation for me to want to go. Hopefully I’d be able to find him and properly thank him, “La Push huh? Indian reservation’s there right?”
She nodded quickly, her eyes brightening at the prospect that I’d accept her offer. It was hard to tell her ‘no’, especially since she was so ungodly friendly towards me, “Sure, why not, just tell me when.”
Her smile brightened and she gripped my arm again, “That sounds awesome! I’ll go ahead and let everyone know you’re coming.”
My stomach tightened, before it wasn’t as bad, when I thought I was going to decline, but now the prospect of being alone in the middle of nowhere with these people I was still getting to know…It was a little nerve racking. “Who all would be going?”
“Hmm.” Her mouth screwed up and her eyes lifted to the ceiling in thought as she started to list names, “Me, you, Mike, Angela, Ben, our friend Eric –don’t know if you’ve met him, he’s nice- and anyone else that they might have asked.”
That was five people already. And I had met Eric but only as far as asking if he had any lead to spare for my pencil when it ran out. I swallowed down and nodded, pausing outside my first class. Ever since having to introduce myself to everyone in there my first day, I was always reluctant to be the first one seated, but now I kind of wanted to dart in just to escape this awkward situation.
“Nice. All right well, just get back to me or something ok?”
She nodded, happy as can be and I knew now that it’d be even harder to back out if I changed my mind. Billy Black. I had to keep thinking about Billy Black. The guy had lost use of his legs and given me his truck, the least I could do was grind through a day with friendly acquaintances.
Before she could start another tangent I ducked into the classroom and made straight for the back of it. No one looked at me more than enough to nod in greeting and I pulled my hood up as I waited for the class to start.
With any luck I’d be able to spend most of that day with Angela and Ben. Those two didn’t make me feel pressured, they kind of just went with the flow. They were so different than Jessica or Mike that I’d come to my own conclusion that they had to have known each other through grade school or something.
Either way I was already ready for the day to be over; wishing I could skip straight to the end without pause. Because one thing was for sure, one thing that could only make this day even more sour: I’d have to sit next to him in Biology again. Edward Cullen. And no amount of polite conversation or backing out could change that. Today was not the day and I was in no mood to deal with that dick.
Suddenly the beach trip seemed like paradise.
YOU ARE READING
Renaissance (boyxboy)
FanficAn idea I've had for a while: a retelling of Twilight had it been a boy. I'm sure this has been done many times, but I've still always wanted to do it. Yes, there's going to be a portrayal of a homosexual couple and a homosexual love triangle, Bel...
