FOREVER

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Alice had come later than last time. Apparently she didn't have a stalking schedule. I shivered as I stared at the spot on the floor again. I was sitting upright in my bed, cross-legged and leaning over to study the floor of my room. It was 5:25 in the morning. Charlie could have been up by now. I myself could have been up by now. Why would she choose to risk that and come over? Being so early Alice must have known that I was probably not in my deepest sleep. Why was she coming anyway? Was I some wonderfully intoxicating being that Alice simply could stop being around? I snorted at that thought. 'Yeah right,' I thought to myself. 'That's a riot, Bella, dear. Here she is stalking your weak ass and you're complimenting yourself.' I followed that thought with one final chuckle and ran my hands through my hair. It felt greasy. Oh yeah, shower, hygiene. I glanced at the clock. It was now 5:27. I still had time for a shower before school. Still sort of living out of my suitcase - I hadn't really found the drive to unpack it yet- I headed over to it and grabbed my shampoo and conditioner before heading out the door.

The water heated quickly enough and I welcomed the sting as I entered the shower, turning my back to it and allowing it to wash over my dirtied hair. I sighed, feeling better and more awake already, and grabbed the bar of soap in the dish. It was an Irish Spring brand. Men's soap. I groaned but couldn't really find the will to be angry or annoyed. I'd just smell like a hunky man for the day. I lathered, rinsed, repeated and did the same with my hair products. Then came the fun part: shaving. I was always a little wary of this part. Being a klutz, I hadn't really become good friends with this guy. But he made my legs shiny and smooth so I just had to deal with his bullshit now and again. Just as I was finishing my first leg, something rattled the blurred window inside of the shower. I looked up to see a figure behind it, staring at me. In spite of myself, I screamed bloody murder, my razor jerking back to catch a clean swipe at my side. The figure moved and I lost my balance, my knees falling back over the side of the tub, taking me and the shower curtain with them. As I was falling backwards, the figure stood, stretched its languid, four-legged figure and hopped off of the windowsill outside. I landed painfully on my backside, crying out again as my side was stretched out.

I heard a crash on the other side of the door. Then another and another before Charlie finally burst through the locked door. I looked up at him and gasped, trying to cover myself. But he'd already turned away, grabbing a towel and closing his eyes as he used it to help me up. I was grateful for it and took it quickly to wrap myself. "Christ almighty, Bella, are you okay?" Charlie fretted, turning around to examine the scene of a ripped shower curtain, water stains all over the wall and the shower still running furiously. He brushed past me over to it, turning it off. As he did so, he noticed to light drops of diluted red running with the water and down the drain. "You bleeding?" he asked, out of breath.

"Let me look," I answered, turning my back to him and opening my towel. Charlie groaned, clearly not wanting to be here and I could see from my peripherals that he also turned his back to me. I looked down at my side and noticed a razor cut that resulted from my panic. It really wasn't deep, but it was long and bleeding just a bit. "I'm fine," I answered finally, closing the towel and turning to face my father. He glanced my way then turned around also, looking around again.

"So, did you tell me what happened?" The poor man was so clearly flustered. I blushed, ashamed at my actions. I didn't like to see Charlie worry. It didn't seem like his thing.

"I-I...the window... I thought I saw someone staring at me through the window."

"Did you?" Charlie's voice was threatening now, police-like.

"No, it was a cat. I'm sorry for this. I'll clean it up and get you another curtain."

"You don't have to do that, Bells. Accidents happen. Tell you the truth I probably would have jumped Jiminy Crickets also. I'm just glad you're okay..." He let the sentence linger and I inferred the question in his tone.