Phosphenes |j.hale

01



The green, wet topography zoomed by Summer's vision. The vegetaion so thick that it did nothing to soothe her slight irritable mood. Sitting in the back of her Uncles police cruiser, she continued to look out of the window, the awkwardness in the slightly confined area causing her voice to temporarily feel completely unavailable to her at the moment.

Renee had sent the two girls to Forks, Washington to live with their uncle while she and Phil traveled the world with his baseball career. Summer didn't have an issue with it considering the fact that Charlie was one of the few people on her mothers side of the family that emailed her every week.

She always wondered why her mother went out of her way to go to her brothers ex-wife to take care of her child rather than giving her to her brother as a whole, but everything happens for a reason.

"Your hair's longer," Charlie speaks up, attemtping to ease the tention in the car. Summer glances from the window to see who he was referring to.

"I cut it since the last time I saw you," Bella says, cutting off any opportunity for conversation to grow from that.

Charlie, however, didn't know that Bella signaled that the conversation was over because he continued, "Guess it grew out again." He waited for a response as he drove down the long peninsula. Bella just nodded her head and glanced out the window as if there was something interesting in the thick trees.

Summer herself feel a little upset at the briskness of words that Bella had spoken to Charlie, and decided to speak up, "I hope you like my hair Uncle Charlie," she smiles, and Charlie takes his eyes off the road for a second to turn his head around.

"You bet your rats nest I do," he returns, and laughs, the gruffness of his voice making Summer feel like a child once more. She spent a lot of time with her Uncle Charlie when he lived in the City. Considering the fact that her mom was a teen mom, Charlie was just leaving the house when Summer was born. He helped take care of her for a bit before he moved away.

But he did keep in touch.

While Charlie and Summer converse, they pass the big sign signaling their arrival to the town.

'The City of Forks Welcomes You: Population 3246',
Well, now, 3248. Bella lets out a deep sigh in the car, while her father and cousin seemed to continue their conversation, giving her the slightest chance to continue on with her pity as the air of the car turned lighter rather than that suffocating silence.

Bella rolls her eyes as Summer's laugh filled her ears. It was something so seldom that she'd heard, and it was something so seldom that she'd personally gotten to do, and it pissed her off. That's the only thing that Summer seemed to do. Brighten up her life and steal people out of it.