Origins

Since before I can remember, I've felt out of place. I've grown up with loving parents of course but when it comes to school or work, I've realized that I just don't fit in. I've tried hard to figure out where I belong but to no avail. I have one friend, whom I love with all my heart, but that's about it. Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday and it's also the day that I tell my parents I'm moving away for college, and I'm scared shitless. I don't know how they're going to react when I tell them I'm moving 17 and a half hours away to go to college in Florida. I stopped myself from thinking about my move before I started crying again. My parents already knew that I was hiding something from them and I didn't want to worry them anymore than I already am. I rolled off my bed and decided to get ready for the day. My best friend Bella was supposed to be picking me up sometime this morning for an early birthday surprise. I didn't bother asking her what time she'd be here because I knew she had no idea. That silly twit is the most disorganized person I've ever met. Suddenly I heard my front door burst open and slam shut. "BELLAMY WINSTEAD! HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF KNOCKING?! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" I heard my father shouting at Bella downstairs. I don't even know why he tries scolding her. This is the third time just this week that she's barged in without knocking and he's shouted at her everytime. There's no real anger in the shouting though, my dad loves Bella, she can just be a real pain in the ass. "Sorry Mr. B! I'm just so excited for Alice's birthday! Where is she?" Bella asked, loudly. "She should be up in her room, I haven't seen her come down yet." I heard my father's reply. I heard her running up the stairs and yell, "Thanks Mr. B!" I quickly grabbed my phone from my nightstand and hid in my closet before she made it to my room. I wanted to scare the crap out of her. I've been trying for 10 years to scare her but not once have I managed to get her ass. It's crazy but it's almost like she can sense me before she even sees me. But that can't be, right? I heard my bedroom door open and held my breath. "Alice, I dont know why you keep trying, you know I'll always find you first." she said, laughing. The closet doors were flung open and I let out the breath I was holding. I was made. "Dammit Bells, how do you always know?!" I whined. "You just suck at scaring people Alice. Probably because you're just an innocent little pipsqueak." she laughed and ruffled my hair. I grunted and slapped her hand away. Sure, I knew I was small, standing at only 5 foot 2 but she didn't have any room to talk. She was only about 3 inches taller than me. "Bella shut the hell up. What are we even supposed to be doing today?" I asked, annoyed. "WE, are not doing anything until you change. You look like a hobo Alice, what is that?" she asked, looking over my outfit with obvious disdain. I looked down at my outfit and sighed. I should have known she'd have an issue with this. I was wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt and my chucks. She, on the other hand, was wearing a burgundy corset top and black leather pants with knee-high high heeled combat boots. She looked hot, no doubt about it. "Well how the hell was I supposed to know what you wanted me to wear, Bella? You literally called me at 1 am and told me to be ready, this is me being ready." I snapped at her. "First of all, Alissandra," she sneered at me. "You should have known that I was going to plan something that involved a little more... Sexy... Attire." I scoffed, "Fine, I'll go change then." I stomped into my closet and started rifling through my clothes. I pulled out a denim skirt and a lavender polo shirt. "How's this?" She glared at me, "I swear to God, you're not even trying. Get out of the way." She pushed past me and started searching through my clothes as well. She stopped at a fitted jumpsuit that she got me years ago, "Why have you never worn this? You'd look hot in it. I wouldn't steer you wrong you know." I stared at it. "Bells, you know that's not my style." I searched alongside her in my closet and found black skinny jeans and a pinstriped long sleeve button down crop top. "Hey, now you're getting it Alice! Wear these shoes with it!" She grabbed a pair of silver strappy stilettos from the top shelf of my closet and threw them to me. "I'm gonna go down and chat with Momma B while you change." She walked out of my room, leaving the door wide open behind her. I shook my head and shut the door and stipped out of my 'Hobo clothes' as Bella so kindly called them. I quickly got dressed in the outfit we picked together and just stared at myself in the mirror. I had to admit, I looked pretty hot. The skinny jeans accentuated my curves and the crop top made my boobs look fantastic. I really hate it when she's right, I thought to myself quietly. I decided to do some light makeup last minute and threw some winged eyeliner on, mascara, and a little highlighter, then I threw my hair in a messy bun and checked the mirror again. Well, this is about as good as it gets. I made my way to the stairs and descended slowly so I wouldn't trip in the damn evil shoes and break my neck. I walked into the kitchen and saw Bella sitting at the counter chatting away with my mother. My mother turned and looked at Bella and laughed at something she said, geez my mom is gorgeous. She was tan and had waist-length curly chocolate hair, freckles across her cheeks and nose, and piercing green eyes framed by the darkest, thickest lashes I've ever seen. She was tall and thin, but not too thin, she had curves in all the right places. She was definitely what the stupid boys at my school call a "milf". Gross. Basically, she was everything I wasn't. I have stick straight jet black hair that goes down to my mid back, violet eyes(weird, right?) and pale skin. Which I don't even understand, we live in freaking Texas and I'm so pale I'm like reflective. I also wasn't tall and thin like her, sure I'm not overweight, but I'm certainly not as skinny as her. The differences between us are so uncanny that you would think we weren't related. I've questioned this before but never to my parents faces. I would hate to upset them like that. My dad walked into the room, all smiles, as usual. My dad was also incredibly handsome. He was 6'3" with shoulder length dirty blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and muscles on top of his muscles. I don't even know when he has time to go to the gym because he's constantly working. He owns and operates a multi million dollar company and apparently the people that work for him are incompetent. I remember we went on vacation once, 4 years ago, we had to leave early and my dad had to go straight to the office because someone messed up a contract and the client was getting ready to sue. Thankfully dad made it there in time and was able to talk the client down and fix the problem. We haven't tried again yet because dad is worried something like that will happen again. Dad walked over to me and gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head, then walked over and wrapped his arms around my mom's waist and kissed her cheek. She giggled and swatted his hand with a spatula, "Hands to yourself Mr. Bordeaux. I'm trying to make breakfast." "But Mrs. Bordeaux, you smell better than breakfast," he whispered in her ear. "DAD!" "MR. B!" Bella and I shouted at the same time. " Come on Alice, we'll get something to eat on the way, something tells me it's about to get rated N, for nasty in here." Bella dragged me away from the kitchen towards the front door. "See you later Mr. B, Momma B!" "Bye Mom, Bye Dad!" I shouted from the living room, laughing the whole time. My parents were not afraid of PDA at all and it made Bella uncomfortable. I caught a glimpse of my dad picking my mom up and putting her on the kitchen counter. I want a love like theirs one day. I thought to myself quietly. We made it outside and I saw Bella's 4 Runner in the driveway blocking my car in. "We're taking your car?" I could not hide the disappointment in my voice and Bella stared at me, annoyed. "Alice, do you see my outfit? There's no way I can get in and out of that thing easily." I scoffed, "It's not that bad." I looked over at my car and giggled. It was a turbocharged WRX that was slammed to the ground. I named my car Suzie Q and she was my pride and joy. I had to admit, she was right, there was no way she was going to easily get in and out of it because she couldn't bend properly in her high waisted leather pants. I huffed. "Well, you're the one that had to wear that ridiculous outfit!" I yelled at her. She glared at me, "First of all b*tch, f*ck you. I look hot and you know it. Secondly, it's your birthday SURPRISE, you don't know where we're going." She was right. Again. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her, waiting for her to back down. But, I unfortunately, have ZERO patience and caved in way before she was going to. "Fine!" I threw my hands up in exasperation. I stomped over to the passenger side and grabbed the door handle but before I could yank it open, the doors all locked. I looked over at Bella and she had the key fob in one hand and the other she was pointing at me. "Lose the tude, dude. We're gonna have a great freaking day but not until you stop pouting about your car. We can take it to family dinner tomorrow night." I knew she was frustrated with me at this point. She has incredible patience with all things except me. I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. Let's go have some fun dollface." She grinned and unlocked the truck and we climbed in and buckled up and she tossed me her phone so we could get tunes going. I unlocked her phone and the first thing I saw on her screen I couldn't unsee! "AHH! WHAT THE HELL, BELLAMY?! THERES A d**k ON YOUR PHONE!" I screamed, horrified. I threw the phone back at her and she caught it while laughing. "Jeez Alice, you act like it's such a shocker that there's a d**k on my phone. It's not like this is the first one you've seen." I watched as she deleted the picture, then handed the phone back. "You could have at least warned me." I took the phone back and played some alt. rock. "Where are we heading to first, Bells?" I knew I didn't even have to ask but I did it anyways. We were going shopping at the mall first, guaranteed. "The mall. Duh! Mr. B gave you his card right?" she asked me. "Yea, last night. Why?" "Because, he told me to make sure that you get whatever your little heart desires today." I smiled. My dad always went all out for my birthday and this year it looks like it's gonna be the same. "Well, I do need a new wardrobe for Florida." "That's my girl. Have you told them we're going yet?" she asked. I sat quietly in my seat. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. "No. I'm so scared to tell them. What if they get mad at me?" Bella looked over at me, "Alice, they're not gonna get mad at you sweetie. They love you and they're just gonna be so f*cking proud of you, just like I am. You've worked your ass off for this. How could they not be proud?" A tear streamed down my face. "Why do I feel like I'm abandoning them, Bells?" "Because you're moving halfway across the country honey. It's gonna suck for everyone involved but you're gonna do great things love. And I'll be right behind you every step of the way. Because what else are best friends for?" she grinned at me and I smiled back. We rode the rest of the way just singing and listening to the music until we pulled up to the mall. We pulled into a spot and not 5 minutes later a car pulled up beside us and I rolled my eyes. Bella jumped out of her car and ran over to the one that pulled in beside us and yanked the driver door open. The driver got out and picked Bella up and spun her around, kissing her the whole time. I couldn't help but gag. I climbed out and waited for the make out fest to finish. Bella finally came up for air and suddenly seemed to remember I was with her. "s**t, Alice. I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you I invited Markus and Tristan to join us." I smiled and shook my head. "It's all good. I'm gonna head on in and grab some food from the food court. I went to walk away between the cars but the passenger door of Markus's car flew open, stopping me in my tracks. Out stepped Tristan, and I was floored, once again, by his good looks. The man belonged on the cover of a magazine or something but definitely not wandering around the hallways of my high school. He was about 6 and a half feet tall and muscular and had tattoos covering his arms. Which was definitely not something you saw in high school everyday. He had short black hair, slicked back away from his face and these gorgeous ocean blue eyes that you could get lost in. God, I've never been so attracted to another human being in my life. I knew I'd been staring at him for way too long and he looked at me curiously. I cleared my throat, "Ahem, I'm sorry. I'll get out of your way." I tried to step off to the side but ran into Bella's Sideview mirror. Way to go Alice. Just keep digging a deeper hole dumbass. He smiled and my knees almost gave out. "Don't worry about it gorgeous." Gorgeous? Me? What? " I was getting ready to head in as well, I don't want to watch them make out anymore. It's GROSS!" He yelled and Markus broke apart from Bella long enough to give Tristan the finger, then went back at it. Tristan held his arm out to me and I just stared at him. He flashed me another smile and winked. Good lord I'm going to spontaneously combust. I looped my arm into his and immediately felt butterflies in my stomach. We headed inside the mall. "Where to first sweetheart?" he asked me smiling the whole time. "Umm... I was gonna go to the food court and grab something from Chick-fil-A. I didn't get breakfast this morning." He steered me toward the restaurant and we waited in line arm in arm. I didn't miss the stares we got from damn near every female in this place. I caught sight of Olivia, Tristan's ex and she was staring daggers at me. I tried to pull my arm free but he just held tighter and looked down at me questioning why I was pulling away from him. "Tristan, Olivia is here and she looks pissed. Please let me go." He turned and glared at her, she kept staring at him but eventually hung her head in defeat. "There. No longer a problem. What do you want to eat?" he was all smiles again. "Uhh. The 8 count nuggets?" "What do you want to drink?" He asked. I couldn't think clearly because he was stroking my the back of my hand with his thumb and I felt little sparks of electricity the whole time. They seemed to have a direct line to my core because suddenly I was aroused. I squeezed my thighs together and almost whimpered. I thought I saw Tristan's eyes turn black but when I looked again they were his usual ocean blue. "What do you want to drink?" he asked again and let go of my arm. Finally, I was able to think clearly. "Lemonade." I answered breathlessly. He smiled at me again. "Why don't you go find us a table and I'll bring the food over?" "I still have to pay for mine." I hated how whiny I sounded. He shook his head, "I got it. Don't worry about it." I went and found a table and he joined soon after. We finished our food and started wandering around the mall. After about 30 minutes Bella and Markus finally found us and I noticed Bellas cheeks were flushed and she looked a little out of breath. "Bells are you okay?" I asked, obviously concerned. She looked at Markus and smirked then looked back at me. "Hell yea I'm okay. I'm better than okay. Let's go do some shopping!" She laughed. And we did. We shopped for hours, we each had three bags in both our hands and the guys were carrying some as well. Finally, I was exhausted and more than ready to go home. "Bella can we head back to my place now? I'm so tired and we still have to go get dinner." she checked her watch and balked. "s**t, Alice! I didn't even realize what time it is! We gotta go!" I frowned. It was only 4:30 in the afternoon, why was she so rushed? We made it back to the car quickly, threw our bags in the back and were saying goodbye to the guys. Bella was sucking Markus's face off again and I was thanking Tristan for buying my lunch again. "I had a great day with you Alice. I hope we can hangout again sometime soon." He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it and I swooned. "Uhh... Yea. This was a great day. I'm so glad we got to hangout. It was a great early birthday present." I smiled and squeezed his hand. He stared up at me. "When is your birthday?" "Tomorrow. It's my 18th." His eyebrows shot up and he looked like he was about to say something but then Bella honked her car horn. I didn't even notice her get in. "Let's go Alice! We're gonna be late!" She shouted at me from inside the car. "I better go. I'll see you around Tristan!" "Goodbye for now gorgeous girl." I blushed and hopped in Bella's truck. I was still blushing as I buckled up and true to form, Bella noticed. "Spill the beans, b*tch. What happened between yall?" "Nothing. We had lunch, we talked, we flirted. And he kissed my hand when he said goodbye. It was just... nice." I leaned back in my seat and thankfully she didn't push the issue further. I still had butterflies. He made me so nervous but so excited to be around him. For the first time in a long time, I was excited for school on Monday. It just meant I'd get to see Tristan again. We pulled into a restaurant after 20 minutes of riding in silence. It was definitely a fancier restaurant than I expected and I looked over at Bella who was just grinning at me. "It's your 18th birthday, this is an important milestone and I'm gonna treat you. Let's go pig out." I grinned back and jumped out of the car. Bella had already made reservations so we didn't have to wait long and our server was quick and friendly. We ate our food, moaning over how good it all was and just sat and chat with one another when we were done. "I'm so excited to be going to Florida with you Alice. I'm glad we're not going to be separated. You're practically my sister and I couldn't bear to be away from you." she sniffled. I could see the moisture in her eyes and felt it in my eyes as well. "Bells, there's no way in hell I'd be going without you. You're like my sister too. I love you babe." "Well, as your sister, there's something important I need to tell you. But I need you to keep an open mind." she looked at me seriously. I was starting to get nervous. "Bells, are you pregnant?" I asked, worried. "What? No of course not! It's just... This is about who I am and where I come from. I've never told you this, though you have asked. Alice... I'm a witch." I stared at her. "You mean Wiccan? I knew that. We've talked about this Bella. I don't love you any less because of your religion." "No Alissandra. I am an actual witch. I wouldn't lie to you about this. The world is full of supernatural creatures and most humans are blind to it. I am one of those supernatural creatures." She was looking straight into my eyes. I searched them to see if she was joking and when I realized she wasn't, "Oh my God. You're serious aren't you?" she nodded her head. "Are... Are you going to hurt me?" I didn't miss the look of hurt that flashed across her eyes. "Of course not Alice! I told you that you're practically my sister. I just... You'll be 18 tomorrow and I thought you deserved to know the truth." She was so concerned now? "You couldn't have told me the truth at some point in the last 10 years?" I was hurt. Devastated that my best friend would keep something so big, a secret from me. "I wanted to Alice. But I was sent here to watch over you. Your parents made me promise to not tell you until your 18th birthday. It was a promise I couldn't break. I swear to you, Alice, if I could have, I'd have broken that promise in an instant. I hate that I had to keep this from you." My parents? They knew that Bella was a witch? "Bella, my parents knew all this time?" she flinched when I asked. "Alice... There are some things I still can't tell you. Some things have to be explained by your parents and only your parents can do it. It's going to be a hard conversation, but I'll be with you to have it, if you'll let me." I stared at my best friend. The one I've shared all my secrets, hopes, and desires with. The one who couldn't share in return. I was angry and hurt, but she was still my best friend and I wasn't going to let her go. I didn't know everything yet, but I trusted her when she said she couldn't share it all. I believed her and I believed in her. I grabbed her hand and squeezed, "Bella, I trust you. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not hurt, but I believe you when you say that you couldn't tell me." I watched as relieved tears poured down her face. "Let's go back to my house Bells. We can have a sleepover." she smiled and nodded through her tears and we got up and she embraced me in a tight warm hug. "I really do love you Alice. I'm so sorry." We left the restaurant and headed back to my house. We dragged my bags upstairs and flopped on the bed. She held my hand and cried until she fell asleep. I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom and wondered what other secrets my parents have been hiding from me. Tomorrow I was going to find out. Tomorrow I turn 18 and I'm going to demand the truth.