the summer i was ten

[deepest_magic]

Bella is ten. School has let out; she spends one week at the beach with Renée, celebrating, and then from there Renée drives her up to Forks, and drops her off, with many hugs. Charlie picks her up, with some hugs, although not as many; it's not his way. Bella settles in for the summer. It is, if nothing else, cooler up here.

Comments

[neverbeatme]

"It is useful! I keep little files on everybody I know."

[deepest_magic]

"What's in mine now?" giggles Bella.

[neverbeatme]

Elizabeth closes her eyes and reads off:

"Isabella Swan, goes by Bella. Father is Charlie Swan. Lives with mother in Arizona most of the year but comes up here for summers. Hobbies: reading, brain diary. Good at thinking. No mind palace."

[deepest_magic]

"Where did you find out the parts I didn't tell you?"

[neverbeatme]

"Just around," she says, opening her eyes. "From people I talk to and stuff."

[deepest_magic]

"Is there anybody else interesting around?"

[neverbeatme]

"Not really. There's kids I'll help with their homework and stuff, but nobody I want to keep when I grow up."

[deepest_magic]

"...Keep when you grow up?"

[neverbeatme]

"...Yeah? You know, sometimes when people are friends when they're little, they're still friends later? I don't want to do that with anybody I know in Forks."

[deepest_magic]

"People don't usually say it as keep, is all."

[neverbeatme]

"Isn't 'keeping friends' a thing people say?"

[deepest_magic]

"Ye-e-es. But only with the 'friends' part said out loud."

[neverbeatme]

She shrugs.

[deepest_magic]

Bella also shrugs. "I don't know what kind of friends I'll want most when I grow up. It will depend on what I'm doing."

[neverbeatme]

"I can tell what kind of friends I won't want most when I grow up."

[deepest_magic]

"I bet a lot of cool grownups were not cool ten-year-olds."

[neverbeatme]

She shrugs. "I know what I know."

[deepest_magic]

"But how do you know it?"

[neverbeatme]

"I'm good at figuring people out," she says.

[deepest_magic]

"How do you do it? That sounds useful."

[neverbeatme]

"Well, I'm not sure. It's just obvious to me, but if it was obvious to everybody then people would be a lot better at each other."

[deepest_magic]

"How do you mean, better at each other?"

[neverbeatme]

"I mean everybody would understand each other more easily and not have such a hard time figuring each other out."

[deepest_magic]

"I think people are pretty bad at themselves," says Bella after a moment. "If the thing I do was easy for everybody they wouldn't be."

[neverbeatme]

She laughs.

"Well, how do you do your thing?"