1. FIRST SIGHT
My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was
seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was
wearing my favorite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing
it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.
In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town
named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on
this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States
of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that
my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in
this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I
was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past
three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two
weeks instead.
It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with
great horror. I detested Forks.
I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the
vigorous, sprawling city.
"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got
on the plane. "You don't have to do this."
My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a
spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave
my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? Of course she
had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food
in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got
lost, but still…
"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying
this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.
"Tell Charlie I said hi."
"I will."
"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want —
I'll come right back as soon as you need me."
But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.
"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."
She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she
was gone.
It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small
plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks.
Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was
a little worried about.
Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed
genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time
with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high
school and was going to help me get a car.
But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone
would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I
knew he was more than a little confused by my decision — like my mother
before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.
When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen
— just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.
Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too.
Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary
motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was
that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights
on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.
Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the
初见
妈妈开车送我去的机场，一路上车窗都敞开着。凤凰城当天的气温是75华氏度，蔚蓝的天空，万里无云。我穿着自己最喜欢的那件无袖网眼白色蕾丝衬衣；我之所以穿这件衬衫，是用它来跟凤凰城作别的。手上还拎着一件派克式外套。
华盛顿州西北的奥林匹克半岛上，有一座名叫福克斯的小镇，那里几乎常年笼罩着乌云。这个微不足道的小镇上的雨水比美利坚的任何地方都要多。妈妈就是从这个小镇那阴郁而又无处躲藏的阴影之下，带着我逃出来的，当时我才几个月。就是这个小镇，我每年夏天都不得不去袋上一个月，直到我满十四岁。就是在那一年，我终于拿定主意说不肯去；结果最近三个夏天，爸爸查理没办法只好带我去加利福尼亚度假，在那里过上两个星期。
我这次自我流放的目的地就是福克斯——采取这次行动令我恐惧不已。我憎恶福克斯。
我喜爱凤凰城。我喜爱阳光，喜爱酷热。我喜欢这座活力四射、杂乱无章、不断扩张的大城市。
"贝拉，"上飞机之前，妈妈对我说，这话她已经说了九百九十九遍了，"你没有必要这样做。"
我长得像我妈妈，但她头发较短，而且脸上带有笑纹。看着她那双天真烂漫的大眼睛，我涌起一阵心痛。我怎么可以撇下我可爱、古怪、率性的母亲，让她独自一人去生活呢？当然，眼下她有菲尔，账单会有人去付，冰箱里会有吃的，汽车没油了有人去加，迷了路也有人可求，但还是……
"我真的想去，"我撒了个谎。我一直都不太会说谎话，不过这个谎话最近一直在说，最后连自己都深信不疑了。
"代我向查理问好。"
"我会的。"
"我很快就会来看你的，"她坚持道，"你想回家的话，随时都可以回——你说一声需要我，我马上就回来。"
不过，从她眼中我能看出这样的诺言会让她做出怎样的牺牲。
"别为我操心，"我劝她，"一切都会很好的。我爱你，妈妈。"
她紧紧地搂了我一会儿，然后等我登上了飞机，她才离开。
从凤凰城到西雅图要飞四个小时，然后在西雅图换乘小飞机往北飞一个小时到天使港，再南下开一个小的车就到福克斯了。坐飞机我倒不怕；不过，跟查理在车上相处的那一个小时却令我有些担心。
查理对这件事情的态度从头到尾都非常不错。我第一次来跟他一起生活，即使还有些许做秀的成分，但他似乎真的很高兴。他已经为我在高中注册了，还打算帮我弄辆车。
但是跟查理在一起肯定会很别扭。我们都不是那种在谁看来都很啰嗦的人，何况，我也不知道有什么好说的。我明白，他被我的决定弄得摸不着头脑了——就像我妈妈在我面前那样，我不喜欢福克斯，这一点我从来都没有掩饰过。
飞机在天使港着陆时，天空正在下着雨。我没有把它看作是某种征兆——下雨在福克斯是不可避免的。我已经跟太阳说过再见了。
查理开着巡逻车来接我，这也是我预料之中的事。查理·斯旺是福克斯善良人民的斯旺警长。我尽管手头不宽裕，但还是想买辆车，主要就是因为我不想让一辆顶上有红蓝灯的警车拉着我满街跑。交通不畅，警察的功劳谁都望尘莫及。
我晃晃悠悠地下了飞机以后，查理笨拙地用单手拥抱了我一下。
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