“I want to and I’m going,” I lied to her. I was never good at lying, but lately I had been telling this lie so often that it was almost becoming believable. “Give my regards to Charlie.” “I will.” “We’ll see each other again soon,” she continued. “You can come home whenever you want… and I’ll come back immediately if you need me.” But I saw in her eyes the sacrifice behind that promise. “Don’t worry about me,” I reassured her. “Everything will be fine. I love you, Mom.” She hugged me for a minute and then I got on the plane and she left. The flight from Phoenix to Seattle is four hours, then another hour to Port Angeles on a small plane, and then an hour’s drive by car to Forks. I don’t mind the plane—what I was somewhat worried about was that hour in the car with Charlie. Charlie was pretty good throughout this whole thing. He really seemed pleased that for the first time I was going to stay with him with some degree of permanence. He had already enrolled me in high school and would help me find a car.

But it was certain that the situation would be a bit awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what you’d call talkative, and regardless of that, I didn’t know what we had to say to each other. I knew he was more than slightly stunned by my decision—as was my mother; I didn’t keep it a secret that I disliked Forks. When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn’t consider it a bad omen—it was just something inevitable. I had already said goodbye to the sun forever. Charlie was waiting for me with the patrol car. That didn’t surprise me, of course. For the honest citizens of Forks, Charlie is the police chief of the town’s police department. My primary motivation for buying a car, despite the lack of money, was that there was no way I was going to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on the roof. There’s nothing that slows down traffic more than a cop.