f i r e o n f i r e

001

Nararrator pov. »»»

When Bella arrived at the Swan  residence, it was the first time Ophelia had seen her since the day her mother left with her 16 years prior. Every summer, Ophelia would go to a camp to help with her ADD and OCD, the summer was the only time Bella would visit so Ophelia never saw her. By the time Ophelia had stopped going to summer camp, Bella had stopped her visits to Forks.

Ophelia was sat at her desk reading "Inventae Prophetiae" with soft music coming from her surround speakers when she heard her fathers police cruiser pull up. In order to avoid a scolding later on, she placed a bookmark on her page and paused her music before walking to the front door to greet them.

"Hey pop." the small girl muttered to him as they stepped up onto the front porch.

"Hey Ope. Why don't you show Bells to her room while I get her other bag from the car?" he asked using her nickname, but he turned away and left Ophelia with no choice.

"Yeah... uh, this way." Ophelia grabbed Bellas bags her father left on the porch and struggled to carry them up the stairs and to her room but made it anyways.

"So, h-how have you been? Or... how are you?" Ophelia struggled to find the right words to say to her older sister as she hadn't ever had a single conversation with her.

"Fine." Bella replied with a snap giving her a look that made Ophelia feel as if she killed her cat in front of her or something.

"Oh, sore subject... got it. Won't ask aga-"

"No its not. I moved here so my mom could spend more time with her husband and not have to feel bad. We are not family, and we never will be so if we could keep the small talk, or any talk for that matter, to a definite minimum. That would be great." Bella glared daggers at the smaller girl who was shorter by a noticeable amount.

Ophelia was frozen in complete shock before her father broke the silence by entering the room and Bella retreated back to her "shy and awkward" facade.

When their father began to explain the house to Bella, Ophelia slipped away to solitude in her bathroom that they had installed in the attic beside where her room was placed.

Her reflection in the mirror always seemed to be a burden.

"Why am I doing this to myself?" Ophelia whispered a question she asked daily.

It was a question that was always left unanswered. She didn't know why she put herself through so much pain and hatred that based from her mother and now sister. She tried so hard to be good enough for her mother but she never was, and now her mother has made it where she isn't good enough for her sister either. It wouldn't surprise Ophelia if her mother raised Bella on the idea that she was the Devil's little advocate and she was pure evil and was no one to be involved with.

A horn honked from outside of the home wrecking Ophelia's train of thought. With a sigh she pulled her head of from it's bowed position and wiped away any crystal tears that had escaped her doe eyes. Her eyes were dark enough to be mistaken for a black or dark grey, but if you looked closely enough you would be able to see the stormy sea that were her blue eyes.

Her footsteps were silent as she went down the stairs skipping the second to last step since it creaked when weight was put onto it. She instinctively counted six steps to the front door before she opened it.

Jacob and Billy had dropped by and they brought the rusty red truck that was usually sat in their yard.

"Hey piglet." Ophelia greeted Jacob as she neared him.

"Teddy! I missed you!" Jacob smiled at her as he picked her up in a hug and spinning her around before placing her feet back on the ground keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"Jake, its literally been less than twenty-four hours. How could you miss me?" Ophelia giggled as her best friend, practically her brother, dramatized his speech.

"I didn't. Jared misses you though I'm sure." Jake wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way throwing an arm around her shoulder as he teased her.

"Oh my god Jake, seriously? I've told you, and him, a million times he's not my type anymore. That was 8 years ago! Will you please for the love of earth, give it up already!" Ophelia playfully punched her best friend's side as his teasing persisted. He only responded by blocking her punch and back up a few steps chuckling loudly in joy as Ophelia also laughed with him.

"So, what do you think Bells?" All eyes were now directed to Charlie as he spoke.

"About what?"

"The truck, just bought it off Billy here. Think of it as a homecoming present from me and your mom." He slapped the side of the rusty truck, a metallic echo sounding from where his hand made contact.

"I redid the engine myself and Charlie put new snow tires on it. She's a piece of work for sure." Jacob walked over to Bella's side completely forgetting about the conversation that he and Ophelia were having.

"What? Seriously? Oh my god!" Bella exclaimed with excitement as she ran to open the truck door hitting Jacob in the process as he walked past her to get in on the passenger side.

Ophelia couldn't help but be upset. She worked at the boat dock with Waylon every day she wasn't at summer camp for six years in order to save up so she could buy her own car. Charlie couldn't afford to do it on his own and Ophelia knew her mother would be no help so instead of her father having to help her buy it by budgeting their already small income, she decided to by it on her own. But Bella had both of their parents working together so she could have her own vehicle, with Ophelia's best friend repairing it without even letting her know.

Jacob knew about how Renee treated her first born but he always defended her when the topic came up so Ophelia decided to just avoid the topic all together when they spoke with one another. But now, Ophelia could already tell the bond between her and her best friend was going to shift into a bond between her sister and Jacob.

Jacob always had a crush on Bella when they were younger and every time Ophelia got home from summer camp all she heard for the first week was how amazing and precious Bella was. Even when Bella no longer came in the summers she would only hear about how much he missed her at first.

As Jacob and Bella pulled out of the driveway for a driving lesson Ophelia silently retreated into the house unnoticed and went upstairs to her room.

Pressing play on her music once again she turned up the volume all the way, although you wouldn't be able to hear it in any other part of the house. Charlie got tired of hearing her music in the late hours of the night when he was trying to sleep two summers earlier so he installed sound proof insulation in the walls.

She locked her door six times before she walked over to her small closet and put on pajamas. Although it was on five in the afternoon, Ophelia didn't want to be around her family any longer, feeling as if she were a burden. She sat down at her desk once again and began to write in her journal after sending her father a text saying her was going to bed and wouldn't be down for dinner.

Hours passed and before she knew it, Ophelia was awake at 5 in the morning. One hour before she needed to be up for school. Deciding she should try to sleep the best she could for the hour she had left, she walked to her bed and lied down facing her wall willing her mind to stop for just a moment so she could rest, even if just for a moment.