Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Rabbit Meets The Magic Stick

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 07:

“Wow, I didn’t know that Mrs. Ateara had a salon on South Forks Avenue,” Jake commented.

“Neither did I,” Bella commented. “I think Mrs. Mallory owns this salon now.”

“Well, Molly and…” Quil the Wolf stopped to correct himself. “Molly does right now and it’s a popular one. All the teenagers come here.”

“Oh.”

“Alright, go on inside kids. Molly will bring you back to see us later.”

The kids entered the salon where Mrs. Ateara was waiting inside for them.

“Welcome. Welcome! Let’s get started, shall we? We’ll start with you, Bella. You’re going to need a perm for sure and we should probably frost your hair.”

Bella’s eyes widened in shock. Her hair was the one thing she really liked about herself, and there was no way Quil’s grandmother was going to come near it with damaging chemicals. She backed up towards the front door. She glanced up to see both Paul and Jake shaking their heads and mouthing the word, ‘No.’

“Thank you for the kind offer, but no,” she replied. She glanced up to see Paul breathing a sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong with you, girl? Most girls would dream about getting a free perm.”

“I… I… I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Bella had to think quickly. She really didn’t want to offend this lady, but she had seen photos of her mother with a perm in the eighties. She really had no desire to look like a poodle. No way, no how, was she getting a perm. Suddenly, a recent conversation with Jessica Stanley popped into her mind. She was complaining about how she didn’t want to audition for the spring musical because she would not be able to get her hair done until it was over, since everyone had to keep his or her hair the way it was when they auditioned.

“Right, the reason why I can’t get my hair done is because… because I’m in the school play. Not now, of course, but in the future.”

“Oh, really?” Molly asked suspiciously. “What play is it and what role do you have?”

Bella gulped. She tried to remember the school play. Was it ‘Grease’? Meh, she’ll never know. “Um, I play the role of Sandy in ‘Grease’.” Damn it, it was ‘High School Musical,’ she thought in hindsight.

“You have the lead?”

“Yes, yes, I do.” She nodded her head and smiled so she could sound more convincing.

“Well, then, there’s nothing that can be done. You have the lead role in ‘Grease’.” Molly suddenly hugged her. “Oh, Bella, I’m so proud of you! You are continuing with family tradition. We Swans pride ourselves in our stage acting. Your grandmother had the lead in her school production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and I had the lead in ‘Gone With the Wind.’ Did you know that my husband, your great uncle, played Rhett Butler?”

“Old Quil played Rhett Butler?” Paul asked doubtfully.

“Oh, yes, he was such a handsome devil back then.”

Paul and Jake both started sniggering.

“Well, now, we can’t do much about your hair. We’ll just have to wash it, put it in rollers, and have you sit under the dryer. After that, we can use hairspray-a lot of hairspray.”

“Uh, sure, I can deal with that.”Bella breathed a sigh of relief.

After Molly washed Bella’s hair, put curlers in it, and stuck her under the dryer, she turned to Jake and Paul. “As for you boys. Hmm… there’s not much we can do about Paul’s hair-it’s so short. Unfortunately, he needs it that way. Let me think. Ooh, I know what I’ll do.”

“Um…”

“Come on, sit down. Time’s a wasting.”

Unable to protest, Paul sat in the chair and let Molly do her worst. She buzzed the sides and trimmed a bit off of the top. After that, she got out a bowl and a brush and started applying some sort of paste to his hair.”

Concerned, he asked, “Excuse me, ma’am. What are you putting on my hair?”

“Oh, just a little color. Trust me, you’ll look wonderful.” Paul shrugged his shoulders. If the color looked screwed up, he could just take the clippers and shave it all off. As it stood, his hair was super short anyway because it got in the way if it was too long when phased. A good example was Ephraim Black, who kept tripping over his own fur. “Okay, you just sit tight, honey.”

“Uh, sure.”

Meanwhile, Molly grabbed Bella, who was done drying and took the rollers out of her hair. She then started teasing her hair with a comb and hairspray-lots and lots of hairspray. “Perfect. So gorgeous,” she said as she urged Bella to take a look in the mirror at her new hairdo.

“Oh my God! It’s so big,” she commented with a grimace.

“It’s supposed to be big. It’s the in style.”

“But, but… I look like I put my finger in an electric socket and my hair got fried.”

“Bite your tongue, young lady! Your hair looks good, considering the fact that I couldn’t perm it.”

“Holy crap, Bells, you look like Medusa with that hair,” Jake commented when Molly was out of earshot.

“I know, right? Ick.”

Molly grabbed Paul and took him to the sink to rinse his hair out. “Oh, perfect, perfect! You look gorgeous!” Molly cried excitedly. “Let’s get you to the chair so I can style it for you.”

Paul settled into Molly’s chair and took a look at his reflection in the mirror. His jaw dropped. In the background, he could see Bella and Jake cracking up in laughter at the sight of him.

“Um, you bleached my hair. You didn’t color it,” Paul commented.

“You look gorgeous. Trust me, this is the look.”

After thoroughly checking out his new do in the mirror, Paul realized that his hair didn’t really didn’t look too bad. He sighed and let her spike his hair with gel.

“What do you think?” Molly asked.

“I like it,” Paul stated with a wink and a smile.

“Oh, you’re a heartbreaker, aren’t you? Look at you, flirting with me,” she giggled before turning to Jacob. “Are you ready for your haircut, young man?”

“Sure, why not?” Jake figured that Paul’s hair wasn’t that bad so, rather than argue with her, he sat in the chair.

“Oh, you’re nice and easy-going. I’ve got the perfect style for you. Let’s wash your hair first.”

While Jake was being worked on, Paul sat next to Bella, who was perusing a copy of some magazine called Tiger Beat.

He peered at the images of the teenagers in the magazine.

“Oooh, he’s hot,” Bella whispered.

Paul snatched the magazine from her. “How the hell can you call this guy hot?” He flipped the pages of the magazine. “Look at these? He always has a shirt covering him. You know what that means?”

“What does it mean?”

“It means he has no bod.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “You’re jealous.”

“Uh, no. Why the hell would I be jealous?”

“Because this guy is hotter than you are, even if his hair is kind of messed up.”

“Messed up is right. He has a mullet.”

“I know. I hate mullets, but this guy is hot even with the mullet. What’s his name anyway?” Bella asked.

“Hmm…” Paul scanned the article. “It says his name is Rob Lowe.”

“Cool.”

“Stop looking at him.”

“Stop acting so jealous!”

“I am not jealous.”

“Sure, you’re not.”

“I just want to know what’s so hot about him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s those beautiful eyes or that chiseled jawline.” She turned to Paul and put her thumb under his chin. “Okay, so you’re kind of hot yourself.”

“That’s better. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Insecurity.”

Paul did a double take. “Did you just…” and then he stopped in his tracks when she saw that she was grinning. He realized she was joking. “You’re a little smart-aleck, did you know that?”

“Possibly.”

“Well, you should joke more. I like this side of you.”

“Thank you.” She glanced out of the window as South Forks Avenue began to come alive. The perilous situation she and her friends were in came to the forefront of her mind. “Paul, do you think we’ll be able to get back home?”

“I hope so, but I don’t know. It’s the honest truth. Here’s the thing: this year has been so fucked up. I didn’t plan on turning into a wolf. I just did. It’s kind of like how I’m pretty sure you didn’t plan on dating a vampire or learning about this strange, supernatural world that we’re both caught up in. Why did you ever come to Forks in the first place?”

“It was because of my mother. She got remarried to a younger guy. I mean really young. He’s like twenty-six or something. Anyway, he’s a baseball player, trying to make it in the big leagues. He finally got his break and made it onto a minor league team in Florida. Well, Mom wanted to travel with him, but she couldn’t because I still had school so I volunteered to come here to Forks and live with Daddy instead.”

“Well, hell, why the heck would you sacrifice yourself and come to this hellhole? I would have stayed in Phoenix. Were you happy there?”

“Of course I was happy in Phoenix. I was doing well in school. I was in the high school chorus and drama department. I was a cheerleader, I played softball, and I took karate lessons, but it was the first time my mom really fell in love since being with my dad and I wanted her to be happy.”

“Bella, self-sacrifice is okay to an extent, but sometimes you have to think about what’s good for you. You were successful at your old school and now look at you. That asshole vampire left you sad and depressed.”

“Well, I’ll just have to bounce back, I guess.” She looked down at her toes.

“Of course you’re going to have to bounce back. You can’t stay depressed.”

“What about you, Paul? What’s your life like? I mean I don’t really know you, but you know about me now. Are you happy?”

“I’m as happy as can be considering the crap hand I was dealt.”

“What do you mean?”

“My dad-you know the guy we saw yesterday?”

“The one listening to Boy George?”

“That’s the one. Anyway, my life was great until my mom took off and he turned into a drunk. I hate living at home so I’m always looking for a place to bunk at night.”

“Well, can’t we get your dad some help? We can’t have you living with an alcoholic father.”

“I don’t know, maybe. I wouldn’t even know where to start, you know? My reputation isn’t that good on the reservation. Because my dad is the way he is, people assume I’m like him. I’m not, though. At least, I try not to be.”

“I don’t think you are. And you can bunk with me when we get back. My dad is always fishing and stuff so he’ll never know. I have a chaise lounge in my room. You can sleep on that.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, for real.”

“Awesome.” Paul was genuinely happy. As he got to know her, he was discovering that Bella Swan was a cool chick and really caring, too. It was funny how the other wolves and even the tribal elders made assumptions about her because she got involved with the Cullens, but Paul realized that those assumptions were completely wrong. She truly was a sweet girl.

Bella smiled at Paul. She smiled at him because she liked him-really liked him. She thought he was a nice guy if you got through his gruff exterior. She liked how straightforward he was and how he truly cared about her wellbeing. It was strange, but the more time she spent with Paul, the more she realized how cruel and selfish Edward Cullen really was. She wished she had never gotten involved with him-ever. It was the stupidest thing she’d ever done.

“Hey, Bella?”

“Yeah?”

“You mentioned that you were in drama and chorus, played softball, and that you were a cheerleader in Phoenix.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, how come you don’t do that stuff here?”

Bella paused to think. She really had no idea why she didn’t participate in the same extra-curricular activities she did at her old school in Phoenix. She thought back to when she first arrived in Forks last year. How had she been feeling? She had felt sad and rejected by her mother, yet excited about the prospect of living with her father and getting to know him. And then what had happened? Her father turned out to be more interested in getting together with his friends to watch sports, go fishing, hunting, anything but hang out with her. It was like he was uncomfortable with her. And so, Bella became more introverted. She’d always been initially shy about meeting people, but she realized that her more recent interactions-or lack thereof-with her parents had left her disheartened. Plus, there was the part she wasn’t saying. She had a boyfriend in Phoenix and he had abruptly dropped her for another girl. She was still getting over that shock when Edward Cullen popped into her life. Damn it! She knew she shouldn’t have gotten involved with him. He was a rebound guy. Oh, hell! Edward Cullen was a rebound guy! He was simply a distraction to keep her from thinking about the real problem: the fact that her ex-boyfriend Nick dropped her for her supposed best friend Sophia all because she wasn’t ready to give up her virginity to him! And why the heck was she still keeping in touch with those backstabbers on Facebook? Gee whiz! Was she being a masochist or what?

“Bella? Are you okay?” Paul asked.

She smiled. She smiled a bigger smile than she had smiled in a long time because she had come to the realization that Nick, Sophia, Edward, and all those who had hurt her were really meaningless to her.

“I’m fine.” She abruptly hugged him, her newfound enlightenment making her bold. “I’m more than okay. Thank you, Paul!”

“You’re welcome. I don’t know what I did, but you’re welcome.” He paused for a second. “Um, what did I do?”

And so Bella told Paul all about the crap she had gone through with Nick and Sophia before coming to Forks. She explained how it just now occurred to her that by the time she got here from Phoenix, she was so down and depressed about the situation that she had blocked it from her mind.

“Bella, that Nick guy and Cullen are cut from the same cloth: they’re monsters. And that Sophia girl was clearly never your friend. What kind of friend sleeps with her best friend’s boyfriend? What a backstabbing bitch!”

“I know, right?” Bella sighed. “I really wish I had met you first. I don’t think you would have let me be depressed. You’re just too caring of a guy.”

Paul stared at Bella with a stunned expression. ‘Caring’ was not usually a term used to describe him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“N… Nothing, it’s just that…” He shrugged his shoulders. “Never mind.”

“No, not never mind. Something is bothering you. Did I say something to offend you?”

“Offend me?” She nodded at him. “No, of course you didn’t offend me. I was just kind of surprised. No one has ever called me caring. I’m known as a real fuck-up on the reservation.”

“Fuck-up? No way! How could anyone ever consider you anything, but nice? I’ve known you for a day, but I know that you’re a great guy. You’re kind, caring, considerate, and you take your responsibility as a wolf seriously. I mean look at how you protected Jake and me? We’ve time traveled to this 80’s hell and you haven’t abandoned us.”

“Bella, you don’t know me. You can’t just…”

“I know you well enough. You’ve been straight-up and honest with your personality from the first time I met you. You have no idea how rare it is to find an honest guy these days.”

“Me? Honest? Now you’re going overboard.”

“I’m not, Paul Lahote. And after what we’ve been through in just twenty-four hours, and the kindness you’ve shown me in that time, I can’t help but think of you as anything but an upstanding guy.”

Paul broke out into a grin. “You know something Bella Swan? You’re actually a pretty cool chick. I’m happy we’re friends.” He paused for a second before saying, “I don’t really have any friends-not any real ones anyway-you’re my first real friend.”

“Well, guess what? You and Jake are my first real friends, too. So, the three of us can be buddies, okay?”

“You got it.”

“Speaking of Jake, I wonder what’s taking him so long?”

“No idea. A haircut is pretty quick, especially for guys. We should go and check on him.”

“Yeah, I agree. There’s no telling what she’s doing to him. I mean look at what she did to my hair.”

“At least she didn’t give you a perm.”

“True. I’ve seen old photos of my mom and her hair was so over-permed that it looked like a rat’s nest.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen old pics of my mother, too. She looked like her hair exploded on top of her head. I don’t know what my dad ever saw in her.”

“That’s not nice. I mean she is your mom, after all.”

“Yeah, well, my mom abandoned us without a word when I was eight. She’s a bitch!”

Bella gasped in shock. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Have you seen her since?”

“No, Gloria just up and disappeared. She filed for a divorce and gave full custody of me to my dad. That was the last we ever heard from her.”

“I’m so sorry, Paul.” She wiped her tears with her sleeve. Paul’s heart melted. She was actually crying for him. “I know it sucks to come from a broken home. Hell, I had both of my parents, but they were divorced when I was a baby. I’ve never known what it’s like to live with two parents. I’m always envious when I see an intact family.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“You know; I think the fact that the Cullens were so perfect together kind of attracted me to them.”

“Perfect? They’re vampires!”

“I know that, but… but the couples all had great relationships. They were mated. I wish humans had mates.”

“Vampires have mates?”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “They’re soulmates. They live and die for each other. Alice said that when they touch each other, they feel tingles, like electric pulses. Does that make sense?”

“It does. It sounds a lot like imprinting. Wolves have imprints instead of mates. One look into our imprint’s eyes and we know instantly that she’s our soul mate.”

“So it’s safe to assume that we’re not soul mates?” Bella asked. The knowledge made her a bit sad, but then again, Paul was her friend and she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re my friend Paul Lahote.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Paul?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… do you have an imprint?”

“No, I don’t. I don’t even know if I’ll ever have one.”

“Oh. I was just curious.” Bella decided to change the subject. “We should check on Jake.”

“Definitely. It’s taking way too long for him to get his hair done.”

The pair was about to stand up and check on Jake when the door to the salon opened and three teenagers walked into the salon.

“Hey, Mom!” one of the boys, who looked a lot like Quil Ateara, but with a really bad haircut, greeted as he entered the salon.

Molly Ateara came rushing out from the back, her eyes wide in shock. “Quil? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in school?”

“Mom, it’s Saturday. There’s no school today.”

She balled up her fists and placed them under her chin. “Oh, it slipped my mind. Now, what do you need?”

“Can I have some money? We were going to Sully’s to hang out.”

“Oh, of course. Yes, sure. Let me just get my purse,” she replied nervously. It was clear to Bella and Paul that she was trying to rush the group out, and the quicker the better because the pair recognized two of the group as their fathers as teenagers.

A few seconds later, one of the teens walked up to them. “Well, look at what we have here. You’re hot. What’s your name, babe?”

Bella looked up to see her father-her still teenaged father-looking straight at her. He was wearing a yellow polo shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the collar upturned, paired with a pair of chinos. He had a white sweater hanging from his shoulders, tied loosely at his chest. She was a bit stunned to see her father so fashion conscious, well, fashion conscious in the 80’s style; she expected to see him sporting a flannel shirt and jeans per usual Charlie Swan style. His two cronies were also dressed similarly.

When she didn’t say anything, he asked again, “Hey, I’m talking to you. What’s your name? You’re a babe.” He flashed a smile at her.

Bella crinkled her nose, completely grossed out by the fact that her father was hitting on her. “Ew…” she whispered before turning to Charlie and asking, “I’m sorry. You were talking to him, right?” She pointed to Paul.

“What? No!” Charlie became flustered. “Why the hell would I be talking to him? He’s a dude!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed because he’s the hot one.” Bella smirked at her father who was red in the face.

“Do you know who I am?”

“No. I just got here. Why would I know who you are?”

“I’m Charlie Swan. I’m the quarterback of the football team and the pitcher of the baseball team.”

“Oh, so you’re a jock who knows how to throw things,” Bella replied distastefully.

“Hey, you’re lucky that I’m even paying attention to you.”

“Hey! You speak to her with respect!” Paul stood up and got right into Charlie’s face. His friends, Adam Lahote and Quil Ateara the Fourth immediately flanked their leader.

Paul rolled his eyes and simply flexed his muscles, which bulged through his borrowed t-shirt. The three teens looked a bit intimidated and backed up a few steps.

“Quil, here’s some cash. I gave you a little extra so you and your friends can catch that new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in Port Angeles you’ve wanted to see and some lunch money,” Molly interrupted, rushing to the kids.

“Are you sure, Mom?” Quil asked, and then suspiciously narrowed his eyes. “You’re being awfully nice today.”

“Oh, I’m positive. I want the three of you to have fun today.”

“Score! Thanks, Mom.”

“Thank you, Aunt Molly,” Adam and Charlie both said.

“You’re so welcome boys.”

“You’re lucky we’re busy and we have too much respect for Aunt Molly, but watch your back, you Billy Idol wannabe,” Charlie warned Paul. He turned to Bella and winked. “As for you, babe, I’ll see you around town.”

As soon as Charlie and his friends left the salon, Bella exclaimed, “What a jerk! I can’t believe what an arrogant prick my father is!”

“Oh, dear. Oh, dear. I have to call the elders. You weren’t supposed to have any contact with the kids,” Molly cried. She rushed to the wall phone to place her call before hurrying back to Jacob.

Meanwhile, Paul and Bella contemplated the situation. Their fathers clearly had been friends, but had no contact with each other in the future. They wondered why. Then there was Quil’s father who had passed away and Aunt Molly, too. They had actually met deceased people, but they couldn’t tell them they were deceased because that would be wrong. Besides, they’d seen ‘Back to the Future’ and they knew there were severe consequences for messing with the future.

“What I don’t understand is, if we’re not supposed to mess with the future, why are we here?” Bella asked Paul.

“I have no idea. It’s a mystery that we’re going to have to solve.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Ugh. What’s that stink?” Paul commented, suddenly wrinkling his nose.

“That would be perm solution,” Bella stated, her eyes widening as they met Paul’s. Both teens stood up and ran to the sink where Jake’s perm rod clad hair was being liberally doused with the chemical.

“Um, Mrs. Ateara, what are you doing to Jake?”

“Oh, I’m just giving him a bit more body,” she stated. “His hair is so stick straight. The perm will hold the style more.”

“Ma’am, when we return to the future, we still have to look like we belong in the future,” Bella told her.

“Oh, honey, the hairstyle I’m giving him will never go out of style. Don’t worry.” She smiled kindly at Bella. “What’s with this ‘ma’am’ business? I’m your Aunt Molly. You don’t have to be so formal, honey.”

Resigned, Paul and Bella returned to their seats in the reception area. They chatted about this and that as they waited for Jake’s unveiling. Both teens were surprised at how well they got along with each other.

Bella found Paul to be sensitive, intelligent, and funny. He didn’t pretend to be cool or talk down to her like both of her ex-boyfriends did. Paul was just a genuinely nice guy.

Meanwhile, Paul thought Bella was simply amazing. She was a great listener and she did not judge him the way most people were predisposed to do. He could tell her anything-even about his crappy father-and she never made assumptions. She really was a special girl.