Chapter One

187 2 0
                                    

Cerise stood outside of the house, cigarette between her lips

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Cerise stood outside of the house, cigarette between her lips. clouds of grey smoke flowing from them. It felt as though she had been waiting an eternity for her childhood best friend's return. Standing around as the bitter Forks wind swept across her face. Cheeks rosy as the wind sliced across them. 

Cerise and Bella had been friends since they were babies, their mothers being in the hospital with them at the same time. Then growing up next door to each other. The two instantly got along and were inseparable. Even after Bella moved away to Phoenix with her mother, the two talked every day. 

As the familiar police car drove towards her, she dropped the cigarette, squishing it beneath her feet. Pulling her denim jacket close to her, she pushed off of the garden wall between the two houses and started towards them. The moment Bella stepped out of the car, she was tackled into a hug. The two manage to just stop themselves from toppling over. Laughter echoed between them. Charlie watched with a warm smile. It seemed like the first time Bella had truly smiled since landing in Forks. He wasn't surprised. Cerise was like his adoptive daughter. Even after Bella left, she and her brother would often come around to check on him. The three acted like siblings too. Tied at the hip. 

He could still remember the countless joint birthday parties and sleepovers. The three of them sneaking downstairs for midnight snacks, unknowing that he had set them out on the table ready. 

"It's so good to have you back," Cerise squeaked as she swayed her friend from side to side. 

Bella chuckled, "It's nice to see you again too,"

"Anyone would think you haven't spoken to each other in years," Charlie laughed at the two, starting to take Bella's suitcases out of the trunk. The two broke the hug, helping Charlie Bella's things.

"It feels like it has," Bella responded. They walked into the house. It hadn't seemed to change. It was almost as though Charlie wanted it to stay the same for when this moment happened. Frozen in time. You could practically see the two girls still running through the house as children. The footsteps of the past embedded in the foundation of the house. Cerise knew how happy Charlie was to have Bella home. He and Bella just had no idea how to communicate that. Both are as socially awkward as each other. 

Charlie had always claimed that the two balanced each other out. Cerise was extroverted and popular. Never afraid of anything. Bella, however, kept to herself. She'd hide behind her dad's legs at every social event. Two sides of the same coin.

As they got to Bella's room, Cerise's smile grew even wider. The room was kept exactly the same. Jewellery is still hanging on the wall. Childhood arts and crafts are still pinned on the corkboard. The girls could still imagine the countless sleepovers they had in that exact room. It felt smaller now. Not cramped, but it was clear they weren't the little girls they once used to be. The look on Bella's face said it all. While the nostalgia was there, the maturity not so much. After an awkward couple of words, Charlie left the girls alone in the room.

A Moon Of Blood • Paul LahoteWhere stories live. Discover now