Cerulean Star

Chapter 2: Tell Me

I slept most of the flight to Seattle. I had a connecting flight in New York, and was very grateful that I had to run to catch my next flight. I was meeting my biological father for the first time, and something major like that, made me completely anxious.

When I heard the pilot's voice over the PA system, announcing our descent into the airport, my nerves kicked in even more. My leg wouldn't stop jumping, and if I didn't know any better, the way I hopped from my seat, I would have thought I was a vampire.

I walked timidly through the terminal, clutching my carry-on with a death grip. As soon as I reached the end of the tunnel, I realized that I had no clue what my father looked like. My eyes swept the airport until I saw a man in a brown police uniform, holding a simple sign that said Swan.

The man noticed me briefly, but continued looking behind me. I looked back, wondering who he was expecting. I couldn't help but glance down at what I was wearing, suddenly self-conscience of my appearance. The designer clothes that Heidi constantly bout me were really going to stand out in Forks. It was then the realization hit me: No matter what I did or said, I was going to stand out in Forks.

"Umm, Chief Swan?" I couldn't even get the rest of my question out before I could see the resemblance. I was in awe of how much I could look like a man I had never seen a day before in my life. I'm not stupid, I know relativity has nothing to do with heredity, but if I had met this man in Italy I would have known instantly that we were related. Most notably, I had his chocolate brown eyes and hair.

"Isabella? My baby, is that you?" I was stunned when he pulled me into a tight embrace. It wasn't exactly the reunion that I had pictured in my head, but it was nice. Strange but nice.

"It's Bella, actually." I began to wonder how I was supposed to address him. Even in Volterra, I would never dream of just saying Aro, Marcus, or Caius; uncle always preceded their names when I needed to speak with them. Was this man expecting me to call him dad? Or could I get away with Charlie?

"Come on, let's get the rest of your things." I followed him to the baggage claim and pointed out the three suitcases that Heidi and Jane had packed for me. Of course I helped him and followed him to the parking lot, where he led me to his police cruiser.

I expected the ride to Forks to be excruciatingly painful, especially when my father explained that it was almost a four hour drive to Forks. He briefly asked me about my adoptive family in Italy, but soon all hope of a conversation fizzled. To me it would seem I had inherited his private mind along with the hair and the eyes.

"So listen, I have you registered for school tomorrow. And as a welcome back-slash-home present, I got you a new car. Well, it's actually a truck." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him, and prayed that he didn't see that. I really was just upset that it seemed he would be another person in my life that just bought everything for me.

Though, I mentally slapped myself for being upset with Charlie. And besides, if Charlie picking me up in the cruiser-something I'm sure was frowned upon-was a sign, then I had a feeling that his idea of a gift was going to be much more downplayed than anything I had ever received from my family before.

"I hope you did not spend a lot of money for it. I had some money that I could have purchased a vehicle with."

"Nonsense, it's a dad's duty to buy his daughter's first car. And besides, I bought it off of a friend of mine's. It's a Chevy truck, red. I hope you'll like it."

"How old is it?" I asked. Charlie looked a little sheepish when describing the truck.

"Well, it has a new engine, and his son Jacob, worked on the transmission so it runs like new." I could see Charlie looking at me like he was guilty of something.