Senses

Ch. 5

I pulled up next to Bella's truck the next morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Bella groaned as I skipped happily next to her. "No one should be so happy at this ungodly hour of the morning," she murmured. I giggled and looped my arm through hers. "It's sunny today!" I cheered. She smiled slightly, nudging against me as we walked. "It is nice," she mused, letting her head fall back as she soaked up the sunlight. The bell rang, and we were pulled from our joy as we had to rush to class. I took Eric's seat and spent the entire class passing notes to Bella. My day was just like any other day, but I was filled with hope as I made my way to lunch. Sadly, the Cullens-- Edward in particular-- were nowhere to be seen. I bought my lunch and went to sit at my normal table, but Bella grabbed my arm and guided me outside. "We're eating lunch out here today," she announced. I let her lead me to where Eric and Angela were sitting in the grass and Jessica was laying on a table, propped up on her elbows. Mike and Tyler were goofing off. I sat beside Bella and picked at my food. "He's not here," Jessica chimed. "Who?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Edward. I see you looking around. Whenever it's nice out, all of the Cullens ditch school and Dr. and Mrs. Cullen take them out on family hiking trips. I sure wish my family could get away with doing stuff like that; you'd never see me," she grinned, laying back so her hair was hanging over the end of the table. I just wanted to go home. 

Lunch left me so disappointed that I didn't even want to go to biology. I didn't want to see that empty seat next to me and sit through that class without anyone to talk to. But I went, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We were watching a movie, so I was able to read all class period. I was finally on the last half of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, determined to finish it by the end of the day. It came time to go to P.E., and I had twenty pages left in the book. I read in the hallway, I read in the locker room. I did not set the book down until I finished the very last page, and by then, there were only two other people in the locker room. I pulled out my gym uniform and stuffed my things in my locker, quickly changing out. I all but ran to stand next to Bella as Coach Clapp called roll. "Alright, today we'll be playing volleyball," he announced before splitting us all into teams of four. Me, Bella, Mike, and Jessica were all on the same team. "I'm not exactly good at sports," Bella confessed to Jessica. "That's an understatement," I snorted. "It's okay, Bella. We won't let you get hurt," Mike promised. I rolled my eyes as we took our places near the net.

Gym wasn't too bad, Bella only hit me twice with the volleyball. Mike kept swooping in anytime the ball came near her, and Jessica was fuming. Bella was oblivious to it, of course, but I saw the sharp glare she would give her whenever Mike so much as looked her way. So, I may or may not have "accidentally" hit her in the back when it was my serve. High school pettiness aside, we actually made a pretty great team. Bella's athletic skill, or lack thereof, made the other teams cocky and made them taunt us. Then Mike, Jessica, and I would swoop in for an easy win. "You guys were great," some random girl cheered as I was changing back into my clothes. Bella and I shared an amused look and giggled. "You wanna come to my house today?" she asked. I gave her a slight shrug, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. "Sure," I answered.

We sat in Bella's room, listening to music and talking, just killing time. "I was thinking about going to Port Angeles the weekend of the dance," she said as she absentmindedly flipped through a book, A Tale of Two Cities. I grabbed A Midsummer's Night Dream off of her bookshelf and began to read. "Why?" I asked. "I don't do dances, I'm running out of books to read, and I figured I'd take some time to see what's out here," she sighed. "I've read every book in my house. Want some company?" I snickered. "That would be nice," she replied. "You know, Charlie and I had dinner at the Blacks the other day and I did some catching up with Jacob. I was thinking about inviting him, too." I nodded as I skimmed through the pages. "Awesome. Sounds like a plan," I mumbled. We sat in contented silence together for hours. It was what I loved most about my friendship with Bella; we didn't have to do anything to enjoy each other's company. Eventually, we heard Charlie's cruiser pull up and the car door slam. Soon enough, his heavy steps could be heard throughout the house. He knocked before poking his head in the door, grinning at the sight of us wedged together on her twin-sized bed with our noses buried in books. "Hey Bells. How was your day?" She grunted in response and closed her book before getting up. "Fine," she answered, turning to me. "Tamara, you staying for dinner?" I put the book aside and got up, too. "I guess. Let me text my mom," I yawned. "Hey Chief Swan, long time no see." His eyes crinkled around the edges as his smile grew. "I could say the same. Where did the time go?" he sighed. "You girls just sprouted up like weeds." There was an awkward silence between the three of us for a moment before he grunted, "Well, I'll be in the living room watching the game." We followed him downstairs, veering to the kitchen. After sending a message to my mom, I turned on the hot water and scrubbed my hands with soap. "Where do we start?" I asked. She pulled a pack of porkchops out of the fridge and set it in the sink before digging around for a frying pan. "I'll cook the meat if you make the sides," she suggested. We spent the next half hour joking and laughing while we cooked. Eventually we sat down to a nice, quiet meal with her father.