“Hi Bells, how are you liking your new home so far? I think it’s rather fine.” He said it as if he truly didn’t know, but I knew he had been paying attention to Renée and me quarrelling earlier, I could read his mind after all. Why did I just ask her that? Stupid mistake. His mind grumbled before I had a chance to retort.
“Ugh! You already know how I feel about it! So why did you ask?” His face didn’t look surprised, I knew it wouldn’t. I told Renée this would be a bad plan, maybe next time I’ll tell her no…Or maybe not. He thought.
“Bells, as much as I would love to discuss this topic, I have to leave or I’ll be behind schedule for my first day at work. But, perchance when I arrive home?” It’s obvious she wants to talk about this, but I would hate to make a bad impression. That reminded me that I came in here to wish Charlie good luck originally, but I got a little preoccupied.
“Oh yeah, er, good luck” I made an effort to say it without sounding disappointed, but it was nearly hopeless.
I almost forgot! Charlie thought. “Oh yes, thank you. And have a splendid day at school tomorrow, bells. You should probably be getting to bed soon; it’s almost 10:30... And you have to get up quite early.” The love and care he felt towards me made my eyes tear up again, I internally cursed myself for being so pathetic. Grow a backbone! I shouted to myself, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to overpower me.
What did I say to sadden her? Was it me mentioning the school? Does she not want to go to sleep? Maybe it’s just allergies…? I should tell her to take some Benadryl. Charlie’s thoughts were heartfelt, but he didn’t mention on my spur-of-the-moment emotional outburst. For a moment I completely forgot where I was, when I was snapped out of my reverie by Charlie speaking to me.
“Bells, are you feeling alright?” Maybe she’s sicker than I thought. I should take her to work with me and have her checked out. She’s looking more ashen than usual, and her lips are blue. She’s not even breathing! Oh my…! He spoke in a soft voice, which told me he had probably been waiting a while. I couldn’t tell him the honest truth, the truth would send him into a panic, and he was already worried about being late for work. I could act in any fashion I wanted later alone in my room. Right now I just needed to assure him that I was fine, and he could leave with no worries; but Charlie always worried, no matter what I tried to sell him.
“Ummm…yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about what time I should get up, I’m thinking 6:30, so I’ll have enough time to shower and drive to school. You should get going; you’re going to be late. Good luck and I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” I was slowly making my way towards the door, subtly telling him that he could go now.
“Are you sure your fine? I’m on my way out, I could take you with me…if you think it be best, I mean. You just seem a little…I don’t know…er…shaken, perhaps is the word I’m looking for.” He was right on target for a change, but I kept my face smooth regardless of my surprise. Over the years, reading Renée and Charlie’s mind, I soon realized that my eyes always gave my deceitfulness away, so I had trained myself so that no one besides me would know I wasn’t telling the truth. Shaken doesn’t even begin to cover this. There’s something more she’s not sharing, but what could she had possibly gotten into so quickly? I know more than any one that Bella is prone to trouble, but we’ve not even been in Forks for an hour!
His thoughts told me more than what he was willing to say, I had to try harder to convince him other wise. I put on a very confused face, attempting to play dumb with Charlie; it would be easy to fool him since I knew exactly what he was thinking. But he didn’t know that I knew what he was thinking, not him or anyone else on the planet. It was too chancy to tell people, even people who I was the closest to. For as long as I have had the gift to read minds, as long as I can remember, I had never even considered telling anyone. As the decades flew by, I unconsciously made the decision to never tell any one, not even if I came to trust them more than I trusted myself.
One other thing that I had come to learn over the years is that you can’t trust people, not even yourself. People only let you down, and then leave you to pick up the pieces alone. I had never experienced this personally, but I didn’t have to when I could feel other peoples let downs and betrayals, when I knew the truth to the lies people tell others. The human mind is so predictable; I often know what their next move is before they even have time to process the situation. With my baffled expression in tact, I began in just as puzzled of tone.
“Shaken? Really? I thought I would have been over my argument with Renée by now, but maybe not. It’s probably just lack of sleep; I haven’t been sleeping well since I heard about the move…” My voice trailed off into a very convincing tone of sadness, which instantly pulled at Charlie’s heart, but I made sure not to let it show in my deep brown eyes. She hasn’t been sleeping well do to the move? I had known she wasn’t sleeping well, but I thought it would have something to do with school or her friends.
It was true that I had not been sleeping well, it had nothing to do with school, or my “friends” I had made up to keep Charlie and Renée thinking I was not the most singled-out person on the planet, but it was due to the visions I had been seeing in my sleep lately, all containing a very pale boy with reddish brown hair… My mind faded as things suddenly started to click together. The same boy that has been in my visions the last couple of weeks… was the same vampire that had been not even ten feet from me today in the forest, just over fifteen minutes ago? Of course in the visions I had with him in them were all very short and not long enough to give me a very good idea of who it was.
The first vision I had while I was sleeping was the smallest, but the most puzzling; I was standing by my truck, looking at the ground, then I was on the cold parking lot ground in his arms. It was too quick to notice much, but I thought about it often enough.
“I’m really sorry about the change of location, Bella. I didn’t mean to…bring it up.” He stopped there, not wanting to hurt me further. Why did I even say anything? If she wasn’t feeling well she would have come to me right away…I shouldn’t have even thought twice about it. I suppose if I found out that I was moving for the 14th time this year, moving away from all of my friends, I wouldn’t sleep very peacefully myself, that is if all of my friends weren’t nomads or lived long distances away, or if I could even sleep for that matter. He believed my lies, like I expected him to, but I didn’t intend to make him feel so remorseful. He really didn’t need to feel bad over my lies.
“Don’t worry about it Charlie. I’m feeling better now, just tired.” I faked a yawn, and then tried to cover it up with my hand, but he noticed like I hoped he would. I was trying to get out of his sight so I could have some time alone to go over my most recent visions. Charlie’s mental voice pulled me from my thoughts at that moment. She seems to be really tired, it’s time to excuse myself before she passes out and I’m late.
“I’m sorry for keeping you up, bells. I have to get going, I’ll have to drive faster than I like to make it to work on time tonight.” As he said this he put on his coat that was nothing more than a prop, when he saw me watching him he winked and smiled. He picked up a plain white file folder off the desk and started walking to where I was standing, in front of the slightly opened door.
Charlie leaned down and pressed his cold lips to my forehead before saying in a soft, apologetic, voice. “Goodnight, Bells. Have sweet dreams. Try to forgive Renée; she only has your best interest in mind.” By the time he finished his sentence he was already out the door and half way down the long hallway, but thanks to my super sensitive ears I could still hear him. Renée does have Bella’s best interest in mind, but at the same time she also knows what it does to her every time… I stopped listening to his mind then, not concerned with what he was thinking.
I led myself down the hallway, up the staircase, and to my room where I shut the door, not wanting any more interruptions. I had some things to figure out, some things that could cost everyone I love their lives. The visions that had meant nothing to me earlier today suddenly meant life or death. As I sat down in the old rocker, the visions began to flood in my mind.
======================================