If I owned Twilight, I would be working on Midnight Sun right now, not a fan fiction. So there you go. I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.
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I looked around. Ugh. This apartment was officially the crappiest place I have ever lived. I felt tears welling up behind my eyes, but I held them back. I could do this. I could. I didn't need my parents. I didn't need anybody.
And of course, it helped that I wasn't actually living here. But, you know, I needed a place to sleep until I could find an apartment, and with little money this craptastic hotel was the best I could do.
My phone rang, and my hand automatically shot toward my pocket so fast that I nearly ripped at hole in it.
"Hello!?" I said quickly.
"Bells?" a concerned voice asked on the other end.
"Angela!" I cried with relief. There was no holding back the tears now.
"Oh Belly!" she cried. "I'm so sorry! Just come back!"
"No Angie," I said, trying my best to stop the tears that were now flowing freely. "I can do this. I have to do this."
"Bella!" she yelled, exasperated. "This is crazy! You don't have to prove anything to anyone! Just come back to Forks!"
I shook my head, knowing she couldn't see me. "No. I do have to prove this. If not the my parents then to myself. I need to know that I can take care of myself."
She was silent. "But you can't!" she yelled. I sighed. I didn't want a repeat of the other night.
"Angela, I need your support, and if that's too much to ask, I'm hanging up."
"Fine. Starve yourself. See if I care."
I sighed again. "Fine then-"
"No! Bella, I didn't mean it! Don't hang up! You know I just want what's best for you! I swear, I didn't mean that the ay it sounded. But Bella-" she seemed at a loss for words.
"Look, Angie, I want to talk to you, but I need to look for a job, okay?" I said.
I could practically hear her nodding. I knew Angela, and she would do anything to avoid an argument. Except for the other night of course…
FLASHBACK TIME!!
"Angie," I sobbed, standing on her doorstep.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "Bellsie, what's wrong!?"
"My grandma…" was all I could manage to say. It was enough.
"Oh Honey," she said soothingly, hugging me. "She was so old. And she was sick. We all saw it coming."
I sniffed, trying to control the tears. "I'm going to Los Angeles," I said matter-of-factly.
"What!?" she cried. "Bella that's insane!"
"Emmett's the only family I have Angie," I said quietly.
"I'm your family!' she yelled. "You can stay with me for as long as you want!"
"I can't do that Ange," I said. "I need to prove that I can live on my own."
"No you don't!" she said softly, rubbing my arm sympathetically, as if she thought this was the hysteria talking, and once I was calm I would see sense.
As if.
"Yes. I do. Angela, I've never so much as buttered my own toast. I can't keep living like that."
"Fine! I'll charge you for rent! You can do your own laundry! Just don't go!"
"I have to prove that I can live on my own, you know, make it in a big city."
"You can't!" she yelled, jumping off the couch. "You'll starve to death!"
"Is that what you think!?" I yelled, standing up too. "You don't think I can do anything on my own!?"
"You can't! you're a spoiled little rich girl whose always had someone holding your hand! Well you know what!? No one's going to hold your hand in LA! You're going to starve, and when you come crying back to me, I'll…I'm gonna…let you." She hung her head. "Don't leave," she whispered.
"I have to," I said, hugging her. "I came to say goodbye. My flight leaves in two hours."
"Ange?" a voice asked from down the hall.
"Uh, in here Ben," she called to her boyfriend.
He walked in, rubbing his eyes. He looked at me, then at Angela, then back to me, apparently trying to comprehend out hysterical sobbing.
"Angela, are you okay? Bella?"
"Bella's leaving," Angela said angrily.
"What, why?"
"My grandmother…she…passed away," I mumbled, trying to hold back a new round of tears.
"Oh my god, Bell, I'm sorry."
"I'm going to LA. My brother's all I really have now."
He nodded, understanding. "If that's what you think is best."
We both stared at him incredulously. "What!?" we asked at the same time.
He shrugged. "Bella needs to do this. Her parents can't be there for her, and her grandmother's been taking care of her. No one's going to take care of her anymore. She needs to be able to do that by herself."
"Wow Ben," Angela said. The look on her face was pure adoration. Out of nowhere, a pang of sadness hit me. I want that, I thought to myself. Not Ben, of course, but someone who could be the Ben to my inner Angela. I laughed out loud at the thought of my "inner Angela".
"What?" they asked, worry obvious on their faces.
I shook my head. "Nothing," I said. "Crap, I have to go. Airport security and all that."
"Oh," Angela said. "W-when will I see you again?"
I hugged her. "As soon as I have the money for the plane ticket," I assured her.
"Hell no!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to see you before that! Because you still have to buy furniture and an apartment, and find a job, but, uh, not in that order…" she looked like she had lost her point. "Oh! But, uh, anyway, I will drive all night if I have to, but not a month is going to pass before I see you again!"
I grinned and hugged my childhood best friend one last time before I made my way out into the world…
And then, you know, I hugged Ben, because I'd known him for a long time too.
END OF FLASHBACK TIME!!
I sighed. I guess it had just barely dawned on me that life was never going to be the same again. Ever.
I took a deep breath. Ok, I thought, do I look for a job first or a roommate?
I thought about it. Then, as if answering my question, there was a loud thumping noise coming from the ceiling. Then from the floor. Then the ceiling…Jesus, were these people like having a thumping war!?
Roommate it is.
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I walked down to the Valero (AN: I don't know if there are Valero's in LA, cuz I haven't been to LA in a while, but go with it, okay?) and bought a newspaper. I looked under the (Classifieds? I don't know what section roommate ads are in.) for someone who was looking for a roommate. I saw a couple of promising looking ads.
Emily Uley
Female, Age 25
Looking for female roommate
Nurse, works nights.
Looking for someone who
doesn't make a lot of noise
or throw parties.
I could do that. I never threw parties, and "loud" was the last word I would use to describe myself.
Alice Brandon
Female, Age 23
Looking for female roommate
Looking for work
Apartment with 2 bedrooms,
2 bathrooms,
Kitchen, and living room.
Rent: 150/month
That sounds good. It'd be good to live with someone who's already got an apartment, that way we don't have to worry about apartment hunting and job hunting. I didn't want to live with someone without a job, but at least she couldn't judge me for that same thing. And we could help each other look for work.
Jessica Stanley
Female, Age 23
Looking for Female/Male roommate
Waitress
Apartment with 2 bedrooms,
1 bathroom,
Kitchenette,
And living room.
Rent: 200/month
I wouldn't choose her over the Alice girl, but if she chose a different roommate, Jessica was a possibility. But the rent was more for a smaller apartment!
I called Emily first. She told me she'd already found a roommate and apologized. I told her it was fine, and I still had some other options open. Then I crossed her name out on the newspaper.
I called Jessica second. She told me to meet her at her apartment around two thirty. I looked at my watch. It was only one now, so I still had some time.
Then I called Alice. She sounded relieved when I told her I was calling in reference to her add. She told me to meet her at her apartment around five.
I went back to the apartment to change out of my sweats and fix my hair. After that it was still only one fifteen. I decided I should pay a visit to my older brother.
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I took a deep breath, wondering how he was going to react to seeing me in LA. He'd always overplayed the protective big brother part, and I hadn't told him I was moving., I doubted he even knew about grandma.
I knocked. Silence for a moment. Then, "Emmett, get your ass off the couch and go open the door!" Who was that? I couldn't wonder for too long though, because the door opened.
"Hel-Bella!?" he cried, wrapping me into a huge bear hug.
"Emmet!" I gasped. "Need…air!"
He laughed and let go of me. "I didn't know you were coming to visit me!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"Well, uh, actually," I said uncomfortably. "I'm sort of meeting some possible roommates hear in the city…" I mumbled the last part, looking away.
"What!?" he cried. "Bella, this is L freaking A! You've never even been on your own in Forks before!"
"Emmett!" I yelled. "I get that you want to protect me, but I'll be alright, okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, okay," he said. Then he grinned. "And hey, at least now you're a lot closer for me to protect!"
I laughed.
"Emmett?" the same voice asked that had told Emmett to get the door. "Who's there."
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Just a sec!"
"Rose!" he called, running into his apartment. "Rose come here!"
He came back to the door, pulling a gorgeous blonde by the arm. I mean, supermodel gorgeous. She was, like, five eight, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I felt intimidated just looking at her.
"Oh my god!" she cried, smiling. "You must be Bella! You look just like your picture!" Then she frowned and said, "Okay, that was stupid, forget I said that, of course you look like your picture."
I laughed, a little uncomfortably.
"Bella," Emmett said. "This is Rosalie, my girlfriend."
I smiled. "It's nice to meet you," I said, holding my hand out. She shook it, then hugged me. It was a little awkward, but I had a feeling we would get along alright.
After that I went inside their apartment. We sat on the couch. It was silent for a moment, but then Emmett said, "So, uh, Bells, why are you here?"
I sighed. I was hoping it wouldn't come up, but Emmett knew me too well to know that I would leave Forks unprovoked.
"Grandma died," I said, unemotionally. I had given up crying after I shed my last tear this morning. There was no time for that.
"Oh," was all he said, but I could tell he was dazed.
I pursed my lips. "I needed to get out of Forks. It was suffocating me. And I've always had someone holding my hand. I couldn't do that anymore."
He nodded. "I get it," he said. "I guess that's why I left too…" he trailed off. We didn't really talk much about the day he left…
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Rosalie said, "So Bella, Emmett tells me you sing!"
I smiled. "Talking about my again," I said, shaking my head in mock disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." I laughed. "Yeah, I sing a little."
Emmett guffawed. "A little!? You used to drive everyone crazy singing in the shower. Not that she's even the slightest bit bad, but she used to get up at five thirty in the morning!"
We laughed, and after that we made small talk and reminisced about the past. Suddenly, I looked at my watch and realized if I didn't leave I was going to be late for my meeting with Jessica.
"Oh crap," I said. "I have to go!"
"Do you want a ride?" Emmett asked, his voice filled with big brotherness. I smiled.
"No, it's just a little ways away from here. But thanks."
I grinned all the way to Jessica's apartment. It had been so great to see my brother again. I hadn't seen him since the last time my life majorly changed…
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