Chapter Text
Toni's P.O.V.
"Toni, Bella, you don't have to do this," my mother said for what felt like the thousandth time. We were outside of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; Mom was dropping my sister and me off so we could catch our plane to Seattle, Washington. We were moving in with our father after living with our mother our whole lives.
"I want to go."
I rolled my eyes as I heard the lie slip through Bella's mouth. She was a terrible liar, anyone could tell, but she was saying that to mom for so long that I guess it must have sounded a bit truthful.
"You know I've been wanting to see dad," I said to my mom. My dad and I got along great, better than my mom and me. Our relationship was very relaxed and comfortable, while my relationship with my mom was full of tension. We butted heads too much to be comfortable in each other's presence. Out of respect for her, I set aside our differences to act civilly.
Bella's relationship with our mom was solid, but her relationship with our dad was awkward. They could barely hold a conversation together due to their fear of affection, which made me wonder why she was coming along in the first place. At first, I was the only one going, but I guess once she caught wind of my leaving, she just had to tag along.
"Tell Charlie I said 'Hi,'" mom said.
"We will," I promised, trying to speed up the goodbye. Mom was known to get a bit emotional sometimes.
"Tell Phil we said 'Goodbye,'" I said to my mom, "and wish him luck for us."
"I will. Now, get going! You might miss your plane!"
After mom gave each of us a big, long hug, we grabbed our belongings and headed towards the plane. The plane ride from Phoenix to Seattle was four and a half hours long, which was great for a semi-nervous flyer such as myself. It wasn't too long of a flight if you thought about it, but because I would be sitting the whole time and the spacing was limited on the plane, I started to dread flying even more. To pass the time, I took my MP3 player out of my carry-on and plugged in my headphones. I stuffed them into my ears and willed the lovely piano notes of 'River Flows in You' by Yiruma to lull me to sleep.
I awoke to someone shaking me and immediately started groaning.
"Toni, wake up. We're here," Bella said. I opened my eyes and noticed that my headphones were hanging out of my ears and that almost everyone had left the plane. I stood up from my seat, stretched, and reached my hands into the compartment above my seat to grab my carry-on.
I followed Bella off the plane and towards the baggage claim where I found my forest green bag in minutes. As soon as Bella found her bag, we started making our way towards the front of the airport to search for our dad.
He was in his police uniform standing awkwardly by himself, holding a sign that had our names on it. His posture showed that he was stiff and uncomfortable with the glances people were giving him, and he kept glancing around the airport. I ran up to him, threw my arms around him, and yelled, "Daddy!"
He chuckled and said, "Hey there Toni. Good to see you, too," while returning my hug. It felt nice to see him again. I obtained a lot of my features from my father, including my waist-length, curly, black hair; his jaw structure; and his height (I stood at about 5 feet 8 inches, whereas Bella was about 5 feet 5 inches). The only thing I didn't obtain from him was his brown eyes; I had my mom's baby blues.
I could tell when Bella reached us when dad pulled out of the hug and gave her an awkward one-armed hug.
"It's good to see you Bells," he said to her. "Haven't changed a bit. How's Renee?"
"Mom's fine. It's good to see you too, dad," she hesitantly replied. I rolled my eyes at Bella's awkwardness and started walking towards the exit doors. When I got outside, I instantly spotted the cruiser in the parking lot. I smiled and shook my head in amusement. When Bella saw it, she groaned and trudged its way. I sighed and followed her lead; it wasn't dad's fault that he only had the cruiser for transportation. When dad unlocked the car, Bella took the front, while I took the back. I didn't mind, though, because I was still tired from my four-hour nap on the plane and didn't feel like participating in the uncomfortable conversation I knew was to come.
I awoke from my slumber a few minutes before we arrived home. I could tell we were close because of the landmarks I used to use to help me get home when I was little and dad was too busy with his job to pick me up. Bella had stopped coming here during the summer, while I, for some odd reason, felt attached to Forks and visited as much as possible. I just felt like I was meant to be there for some reason.
Forks, Washington was a small town with a few thousand people holding the title of residency. It was great because it was almost impossible to get lost, and there weren't as many people judging you. I also liked Forks because it was a type of town where everyone and their mother knew each other. The downside to that, though, was that gossip spread a lot faster and the people were harsher in their judgment.
As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I jumped out of the cruiser and focused my attention on an old, red, rusty Chevy that was parked in the driveway.
"Who's car?" I asked dad.
"Bella's. I just bought it off Billy Black. You remember him, right?" he asked Bella and me.
"Of course! Billy's the greatest old person I know!"
Dad chuckled. "Well, don't let him hear you call him that."
"What year is it?" Bella asked while coming out of the cruiser. You could tell by dad's face that that was one of the questions he didn't want her to ask.
"Well, Billy's done some work on the engine; it's only a few years old really," dad said while rubbing his neck.
"When did he buy it?"
"He bought it in 1984, I think."
"Did he buy it new?"
"Well no, I think it's from the early sixties, or late fifties at the earliest," he said sheepishly. I smiled at that. The only thing all of us shared as a character trait was being easily embarrassed.
"I didn't forget you, Toni," he said while popping the trunk. He brought out a big box wrapped in green-colored wrapping paper topped off with a big bow on top. My eyes grew big as I saw it.
"What is it!? What is it!?"
"Open it," Bella said a little rudely.
I gave her a side look and proceeded to open my gift. I opened it to see a supply of art stuff; sketchbooks, colored pencils, charcoal, pencils, and more. I smiled and hugged him. I loved art and I was pretty good at it, so whenever I found time, I made a new piece.
"Thanks, dad!"
"You're welcome, kid," he said to me while messing up my hair. "I know you don't have your license yet, so I figured this was the next best thing."
I grumbled at his actions, grabbed my stuff, and took it upstairs into the attic, or more importantly, my room. A few months after Bella was born, dad and mom were going to divorce, but they soon found out that mom was pregnant with me. When they found out, they decided to try to stay together. The house we lived in had only two bedrooms, so when I was born, they renovated the attic for me to use when I got older. It was a waste of time, though, because a couple of months later, they divorced and mom took Bella and me with her.
It looked a bit different from the last time I was there; the walls were still a mint green color, the carpet was still white, and the bed still had a mint green bedspread. The only difference was that the bed was queen-sized instead of a twin bed.
There were a few posters and artwork scattered along the walls and a bedside dresser next to my bed with a bear-shaped alarm clock on top of it. There was a vanity painted white across the room cluttered with pictures from past summers, along with a chair in front of it and a dresser right beside it that held my softball trophies. I smiled at them in remembrance.
I had been on a softball team in Phoenix with my best friend Mandy. We had met in fourth grade and instantly clicked. We found out we both liked playing softball, so we started playing on our local team. I played first base and she played third base. I was fifth in the batter's order and she was fourth. Sometimes we would be placed in the outfield next to each other and we'd goof around so much that we would have to run laps for the rest of practice. We won so many tournaments and games; I had about eight first place trophies and four, second place trophies.
I proceeded to unpack my things as I opened the boxes stacked up in the corner; we had some of our stuff shipped over here earlier. After I finished, I checked my clock and saw that it was already nine. I took my pajamas out of my drawer and grabbed some undergarments. I went into the bathroom to take a nice, hot shower. As soon as I was done, I dressed and turned the TV on in my room so I could watch some shows before bed. I shut off my lights and laid down in my bed. After a few hours, I curled up into a cocoon and fell into a restless sleep.