I heard Erin my Housekeeper yell from down stairs

"Bella I haven't heard your alarm go off and if you're late again today Ill call your father" Yah a whole lot of good that would do her, even if she got him on the phone in China he would only pretend to listen and then forget she had called when he came back… and that's only if he answered.

"I'm in the bathroom god can I urinate in peace maybe" I crawled our of bed and went over to my iPod and hit shuffle and turned it up to a point I couldn't hear Erin yell from downstairs. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth and pulled my hair brush threw my brown hair. I went to my closet and yanked down the cloths my Aunt Christen got from Victoria Secret, I decided on a brown long sleeve v neck shirt that bunched near the end and a pair of jean pants. I looked in the mirror and decided to let my hair just hang loose. I grabbed my backpack and my keys to the house so I was ready to leave

I took the stairs, as always. The building might change but the routine never did.

(Flash Back)

The day I started kindergarten, my mother held my hand, my Mini Mouse backpack over her other arm as we'd stood at the top of the stairs.

"Get ready, Bells," she'd said. "One, two, three-"

And we were off, racing down the stairs until we reached the bottom, panting and giggling, the floor sliding under our unsteady feet, all the fears of my first school day now gone.

(End of Flash Back"

We'd run down the stairs together every morning all through that year and half of the next and then… well, then there wasn't anyone there to run down the stairs with anymore.

I paused at the bottom touching my necklace under my shirt, then shook off the memories, hoisted my backpack and walked outside in the mild breeze.

After my mom died, my dad and I moved around Washington a lot. My dad flipped luxury apartments, meaning he bought them in buildings in the final stages of construction, then sold them when they were complete. Since he was away a lot, putting down roots wasn't important. Not for him, anyway.

This morning I decided taking the stairs wasn't one of my brightest idea. My stomach was already killing me with nerves over my geometry test which I should have studied for, but was at Jessica's birth day party instead. If I died, over this killer stomach ache I was coming down with , would it get me out of taking the test. One could only hope. If I didn't get a C or higher maybe dad might reconsider me going to an art school was so smart with after school tutoring.

Ryan was waiting for me in his cab at the curb. He'd been driving me for all of two years, threw the two moves and three schools. As I got in he adjusted the visor on my side. The sun still hit my eyes… but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"I saw a movie last night," he said as he drove. " One of the kind you would like."

"A thriller?"

"No." He said frowning. "An action-adventure. You know, bam bam POW."

I laughed. When Ryan had to take a call from his dispatcher, I put in my headphones in and looked outside the window. A blond-haired boy darted from behind a group of businessmen. He carried an old fashioned plastic lunch box with a super hero on it. I was so busy trying to find out what which superhero it was, I didn't even notice where the boy was headed to until he leaped off the curb. Landing between us and the next car.

"Ryan!" I screamed. "Watch-"

The last word was ripped from my lungs as I slammed against my shoulder belt, my headphones being violently ripped from my ears. The driver behind us, and the one behind him, laid on there horns, a chain reaction of protest.

"What?" Ryan said. "Bella? What's wrong?"

I looked over the hood of the car and saw… nothing.

"Th-th-th-" I clenched my fists, as if that could somehow force the words out. "I thought I saw-wha-wha-"

"I'm sorry. I thought I saw someone jump in front of us."

Ryan eased the taxi forward. "That happens to me sometimes. Its all good.

I nodded. My stomach felt like hell.