Storming Sky

GIRL'S DAY

GIRL'S DAY

Andrew and I met the first day of Show Choir my freshman year. We were paired together and he knew who I was, even if I didn't know him that well.

He started off thinking that I was just another Cullen, but was surprised when I acted so much different from my siblings. We hit it off right away. We joked and laughed and got along well socially with each other. As partners, we got down to work when we needed and we both had the creativity bug. At first, he thought he would have to be the leader, both on the dance floor and off. He soon also learned that he didn't have to be. I was a confident enough leader that he could take a step back – and he did.

Andrew comes from a small family. His father died when he was young and it has been him and his mother ever since. When I first met her, I could see where his manners came from. She was very old fashioned, but loved her boy more than anything else in the world.

Our first date was actually dinner at their house. He made spaghetti and meatballs for us. His mom told me all sorts of embarrassing stories about him and he blushed. At the end of the night, while his mom and I were doing the dishes, she told me that she had never seen him look at any other girl the way he looks at me, and that he never stopped talking about me. That I made him happier than she had seen him in a long time.

She told me the same thing we told Bella about Edward.

I started high school with a relationship with someone who I could love. Someone who my brothers couldn't scare away and someone who shared my interests. Who listened to my stories and laughed and cried with me. Someone who I wanted to share every piece of my life with, and hated that I couldn't.

I don't know when things started to change. He went from caring to distant. From understanding to judgmental. Impatient. Moody.

At the end of the day, it had nothing to do with Fiona. Fiona had always been the way she is. Her parents had more money than everyone in town combined, but they were never around. When she was little, Andrew told me that his mom was her nanny, that's why they're so close. They're like siblings, because that's how they were raised. When she was thirteen, she convinced her parents that she could stay home by herself. It was Forks, what trouble could she get into?

Living by yourself in high school is bound to cause you to make some bad decisions. Like I told Andrew, I love Fiona, but I don't love her decisions. She was going to hurt herself, because she was already hurting. She never got her parents' approval the way that Andrew and I had ours. He was right in a way, I was very lucky to have the parents I did. Andrew lost his father, and Fiona barely had any. My father gave me up and my mother died, but at least I had my adoptive parents.

I guess what it came down to in the end for Andrew is that I loved him, but I didn't love who he was becoming, and who Fiona was enabling him to be.

"Danielle, are you okay?" I heard Bella say, coming down the stairs. It was about 6:00 in the morning.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I told her, sitting up on the couch. "Where's Edward?"

"He went home to try and explain some of last night so you didn't have to. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need, though. My dad's home, but he'll leave us alone if you want to have a girl's day."

"We had a fight, we didn't break up," I clarified. I wasn't willing to take that step yet.

"I know what you're thinking," Bella said, giving me the same look Edward gives me when he knows I'm not being honest with myself.

"Okay, Edward," I said.

"Seriously. You think he's as good as it's going to get. You move around too much and he understands your family and the crazy way it works. You don't want to have to start from square one again."

"It was a one time thing, Bella, it's over. I thought the point of a girl's day was to not talk about boys?" I tried to change the subject.

"True, but I am the only other human who you can talk to about the real reason why you're struggling and I am the only person who knows what you're feeling on that end."

"Point made, can we move on now? Thinking about it all makes me want to throw up," It wasn't a lie.

"I think that's the hangover," Bella laughed. I did too, and nodded. She handed me a bottled water and some Advil. I didn't drink that much, but being around all the pot and alcohol, even for a short while last night, definitely did its damage.

"What do you have for movies?" I asked her, not really wanting to dwell on anything, and certainly not wanting to sit in silence any longer.

"I have Netflix," Bella said, firing up the TV. "Do you want breakfast?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I told her. She got Netflix running and then left it on the menu while we figured out breakfast.

We ended up making pancakes and watching Pitch Perfect. It was funny for me since I was in an A Cappella group. I got a lot of the musical jokes they made.

Charlie came home around 8:00 and went to bed. The night shift was tough, especially on Prom night. He said hi, but not much else.

Edward came back around lunch time. He brought us Pizza, knowing it would at least cheer me up a little bit.

"Everyone wants to know when you're planning on coming home," Edward mentioned while Bella and I were eating. "They're worried about you."

"I'm fine," I told him. "Even if I do come home, it's not like I want everyone asking me all of the gory details. Everyone saw the fight so I'm going to get enough of that on Monday." I already had to turn my phone off because of all the messages I was getting. I didn't want to hear it, and I certainly didn't need Andrew's pity calls.

"Andrew was calling," Edward mentioned.

"Who answered?" I asked him.

"Carlisle, he was the only one who was calm enough to tell him you weren't home," Edward said, growling a little at the end.

"He was really drunk, Edward," I said, defending Andrew again.

"That's not an excuse."

"You weren't even there! It's not like you guys didn't see this coming! If you are so worried about me now, then maybe you should have told me before that my boyfriend and I were going to get into a fight! Or maybe, you wanted me to be angry with him so I'd break up with him and be single for the rest of my life!" I snapped at Edward. Charlie woke up and came downstairs.

"Is everything okay?" He mumbled, still half asleep. Bella nodded and Charlie glared at Edward.

"Oh, hello Edward," Charlie grunted, and went back upstairs. He must not have liked that Edward was here without his permission. I wondered if Dad would ever give Andrew permission to come over again. I'm sure Alice told him what went down by now.

"Danielle, you need to calm down," Edward said, not at all upset by my outburst. "We agreed a long time ago that you would be free to make your own decisions."

"None of you wanted me at that party and don't try to blame this on me," I sneered at him. Bella was in shock. She had never seen this side of me before.

"I am not blaming anything on you," Edward said calmly. He was playing games with me.

"Is that why you don't want to go home?" Bella asked, softly. "Because you're mad at them?"

"I don't know," I said, honestly and to no one in particular. "I'm just mad at the universe right now."

"You're allowed to be mad, but I'm starting to think more and more that the place you need to be isn't here, but with your family. We both almost died a month ago, and we survived that, but we didn't survive that so you could hide from the people you love just because you're mad at them."

"Bella, you're pretty smart, did anyone ever tell you that?" I told her. When she put it that way, there really was no way to argue.

"I tell her that all the time," Edward said, kissing her. Bella blushed. I laughed.

"Let's go, Edward. This pizza was great, but I need to talk to Alice. And turn my phone back on," I shivered. That was not something I was looking forward to doing.