The Special Two

"Hey,"

Welcome to my life, you'll hate every minute of it.

I walked around my car to reach the awaiting families and smiled at Billy, who looked the same as he did the last time I saw him. My eye brows furrowed, he was in a wheel chair now. How did that happen? I looked at his caring eyes and decided against asking about it. “Looking good Mr. Black,”

He threw a childish grin my way, “I’ve been working out.”

He earned a lot of laughter from the boys standing behind him. They were all around twenty and each man was more attractive than the next. I gave a half-hearted smile as I recognized Sam Uley. His hair was shorter than it had always been when we were kids. Come to think of it all the young guys standing before me had their hair shorter. This, in a normal society, wouldn’t be weird. But growing up, everyone had long hair. Everyone. Now the trend seemed to be rock hard biceps.

I shook my head. The weather must be getting to me, I'm not used to all this green. Once I was able to look at something other than their arms, I tried to remember who was who. One of them had to be Billy’s son, Jacob, and I carded him as the one holding Billy’s chair. It only made sense.

The wind was knocked out of me when Charlie squeezed me into a lung-crushing hug. I laughed with what air I had left in my body and Charlie turned bright red.

“Hello to you too Mr. Swan,” I said after I had enough oxygen in my body.

Charlie laughed and pulled back with a father-like look in his eyes that made my heart clench, “My my Clara, how you’ve grown.”

“Yeah, that tends to happen,” I smirked and looked down at my long legs that were revealed by a pair of jean shorts.

I used to be very small for my age and my head used to be abnormal large. It was tragic really; I looked like a life sized Pez dispenser. Luckily, I hit a growth spurt last winter when Sandra started to freak out. Now I looked relatively normal.

“How old are you now Clara?”

“I just turned seventeen last week.” I stuck my hands in my pockets and leaned against my car.

Charlie and Billy let out a mock-gasp.

“You’re getting old,” I heard Sam call from my left and I cocked my head to the side.

“Aren’t you twenty-something Sam? That’s halfway to forty which is middle aged. I’m still qualified as the youth of today.”

Sam laughed but with something behind it, or maybe I was just imagining things. I gave a sad attempt for a smile and turned the other way. Awkward. So awkward.

With everything going swimmingly, I turned my attention to the group of people I didn't know.

“I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Clara Robins.”

I smiled broadly. The returning expressions were a range from awkward to angry to fake. Their noses twitched and flared as I walked closer to them. Immediately I became hyper sensitive to my smell, it had been a long car ride. I probably didn't smell all that fantastic. My feet took a few steps back to save them from my stench; I saw Charlie's daughter and she smiled a little more willingly than the others did.

“I’m Bella Cullen; this is Edward my husband, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, my brothers and sisters, and this is Carlisle and Esme, my in-laws.”

My face contorted into a look of shock at the use of the word husband. She didn't look a day older than I was. Come to think of it, none of them did. Except Carlisle and Esme, they looked a few years older than Sam.

”Wow, married? You seem so young,” Everyone around me snickered as if I just reminded them of an inside joke.

“I’m twenty.” She smiled and it managed to reach her striking golden eyes that everyone in the Cullen family possessed.

They were all paper pale too, but seemingly flawless. They all looked like they could have been cousins or siblings. It was freaking weird, but interesting all the same. The only bad thing was that they reeked of perfume, the sickly sweet kind that a grandmother would wear to church. It made me want to go far away and gasp for clean air, but I kept my feet planted. If they could stand my 'spent-the-last-two-days-in-a-car' smell, I could stand their unpleasant scent.

After a painful hour filled with all the families attempting to make some sort of common conversation had passed, almost all my surprise guests had left. Jacob Black was the only one who remained, solely because his dad made him help me carry my boxes inside. I insisted I was fine, but I guess that's just how fathers are.

I couldn't help but notice how good looking he was. Muscles bulged from his black V-neck t-shirt and cut off shorts. Jacob’s hair was a tousled brown mess on top of his russet colored head. He had warm brown eyes that were comforting but firm at the same time. The best part was his scent. It was like burnt leaves and a fresh rainfall, with...

Dear lord, I’m like a friggin’ lovesick puppy.

I unlocked the trunk of my dark blue SUV and took several boxes in my hands.

“Woah let me help you with those.” Jacob said from behind me, I pulled the boxes closer to my body.

“No, I’ve got it.” I smiled softly and grabbed a duffle bag to throw over my shoulder; he just laughed and grabbed six or seven large boxes.

He followed me inside the same house I lived in until I was eight. Everything seemed the same as it had been before except for the furniture. When I walked with Jake to the bedroom, I noticed the chip in the paint from when I threw my science book down the stairs in the second grade.

Jake placed his boxes in the hallway with a small thud, while mine landed with a much less graceful bang against the hardwood. Jake picked up my jumbled mess and put them in a more organized fashion without breaking a sweat.

“Show off,” I muttered. He chuckled softly from across the hall.

When all the boxes were brought in, Jacob and I collapsed on the couch with a few sodas and turned the TV on to a sports channel.

“So, how does it feel to be back here?” He asked after I threw my legs on top of his so I was lying down on the couch. I knew it should have been awkward, but it wasn't.

“It sucks.” I answered honestly and Jake barked a laugh at me. “Not that I don’t love it here more than I do Tampa, but it’s just weird being back.”

Jake nodded in understanding.

An awkward silence fell across the room. I turned my head towards the TV and tried to focus on the basketball game playing on the medium sized television. Nevertheless, my eyes wandered to the left and into the yard where a flood of memories pressed against my mental walls. I locked my jaw and turned towards the kitchen with its new stainless steel appliances. Completely new, aside from the color of the walls, and a completely safe. I shook my head and turned to Jacob.

“How is it that I don’t remember you?” I pulled my legs into a crossed position and stared intently at his tanned face.

“Everyone else come back so easily. But you…” He stared at me with a bemused expression as I wiggled my pointer finger at him, “You I can’t place.”

He shrugged, "Different people remember different things." Jacob stated in an almost mature fashion, "But seriously, you remember Sam and not me? That hurts."

"Well, Sam was hot." I smirked and grabbed a blanket from the side of the couch.

Jake barked, "I'm better looking than Sam."

I laughed, "Yeah, sure, sure. Like you remember me anymore than I remember you."

His face scrambled for a minute.

"Exactly. You just didn't leave that big of an impression on me." I yawned and snuggled into the pillows behind me, and flung my feet back over his legs. "Maybe this time you will."

I don't know why, but I hope you do. I thought with my eyes cautiously placed in his general direction.

I hope you do.