Summary- Casey's parents have a secret; A huge one. One that will explain their neglect towards her as a child, and what really happened to her sister, Nessie, all those years ago.

Secrets

By

CluelessConfession

Preface

My Mom and Dad are always keeping secrets and hiding. They lie so nobody will know what they really feel. The have no real emotions. To them, life is one big cocktail party. Laughing and smiling at people they hate and hiding their emotions from each other. I'm ignored like another one of the fancy paintings they have hanging up on the wall.

My dad is always at work. My mom is never home either. I don't even know what she does. It would be crazy to call them my guardians as they never speak to me or show their faces. I know nothing about them. I don't think I even remember what they look like. I know it sounds weird, but they have kept their distance from me. I haven't seen them in person for years. If they want to say something they pass the message on through Candice.

Their lack of feeling keeps me from expressing myself. I'm keeping things bottled in because there is nobody to talk to. When I was little they kept me away from all the other kids, telling me that I'm better than them. I don't even go to school. Candice lives in the guest apartment on the third floor so that she can teach me.

I watch out the window on the top floor at all the "normal" kids playing outside. They ride their bikes down the street racing towards the line of duct-tape at the end of the road with "Finish" written before it in bright pink chalk. As I watch the boy in the lead I can almost feel the wind rushing through my hair and the exhilaration one must feel to know you are the one winning "you are special". My parent have been telling me how special I am my whole life and how I'm too good for all those other kids. But, for some reason their lack of love towards me has me thinking otherwise.

My only real friend is Candice, my teacher. She is a fifty year old woman who never stops smiling. She is always telling me all these great stories from her childhood in such depth that I can almost experience it myself, and when I sleep I dream of those stories. The only thing we never talk about is my parents.

I used to have another teacher. Her name was Mrs. Hansen. Mom fired her when she told me how wrong it was to be teaching a third grader advanced algebra. She always told me that my parents were doing everything wrong with me and childhood was something everyone should have. But, Candice never talks about that although I can see it in her eyes when she's teaching. She thinks its wrong and we all know it. She just doesn't say anything.

In our mansion there is just once room that's mine. It's simple and sweet. It is also the only room with emotion or life.

They let me paint the walls whatever color I wanted. When I was twelve I painted it a bright purple. When I was fifteen I painted it a neutral green with blue stripes. Since as long as I can remember, I have been painting pictures to put on my walls. They are large and extravagant as painting is my one hobby. Some are of forests or jungles while others are of calm oceans that stretch for miles. There is even one of a wedding. I think I drew that one because I was imagining what my parents once felt for each other and what I will never feel.

The last picture I drew was the one of my sister. I don't remember much about her, but I know that she was the only thing keeping this family alive. Somehow I thought that bringing her to life through painting would make things okay again. I guess I was wrong.

I barley remember my first day in this house. I was adopted from the foster system. My parents died not even a week after I was born and I was passed around from family to family. I was only three when I moved in here. They were full of love and the house was alive with it. I just wish things would have stayed that way.

A year later something happened. I still don't know what because I was sent to Grandpa Charlie's house. When I came back they told me that my sister was dead. I couldn't believe it. She was about ten at the time. I asked what happened but I never did get an answer. I'm still waiting for one. That was probably one of the last times my parents ever said a word to me. I guess they didn't have that heart to give me back up to the foster system so they just kept me but left me alone. It always gets to me that my sister was enough for them, while I'm not.

The one thing I remember about my sister was that she was beautiful. Her face was flawless as was her long, curly, rusty brown hair. The painting of her is vague as she always seemed to look older with each day. I guess that is what beauty does to you. Her painting is sitting right above my bed with the name "Renesmee" written in my best cursive underneath it.

Chapter 1

It is time for June exams again.

I don't know why I take them anymore as I'm far beyond a college level of learning. These state exams are like writing the alphabet for me.

Candice comes waddling into the room. "Casey! Are you ready to pass the 12th grade?" She sings. I smile widely at her as she places the large packet in front of me. "First up," she announces. "Chemistry!"

"No problem" I say. "Just come back in ten minutes." I tell her like its no big deal.

"Now, Casey, you have to take these exams seriously." She tells me. I just roll my eyes at her. She starts to walk at of the room "Oh! I almost forgot! Your parents say "Good Luck," she tells me.

It is times like these where I usually have the urge to say something nasty back. But, unfortunately, I don't have the heart. "Tell them I said "Thanks". I reply.

She walks out of the room and leaves me to me tests. I open all the packets and scrawl my name on the top. Casey Cullen. I zip through each test and finish all of them in less than an hour, and call Candice back in. She tells me to head upstairs and get some rest.

I walk into my room and breathe in the familiar scent of my lavender perfume. I take in the rest of my surroundings thinking of how much I will miss this place. For years it has been my oasis in from the pain and anger I have felt towards my parents. I move slowly around my room looking at all my paintings and sculptures. I stop at the mirror. I can see Nessie's picture in the background. It is so easy to compare the two of us. It is obvious that we weren't real sisters. My pin straight brown hair was nothing compared to her voluminous auburn waves. I sigh. Sometimes I think the reason my parents hate me is because I'm not as beautiful as Nessie. I will admit that I'm not ugly. I don't really know what an average girl looks like but I would say that I'm average. Maybe average isn't enough for Mom and Dad. That is why they are drilling it into their heads that I'm special, and forcing me to learn at an advanced level. My mom even sends me small gifts periodically. It's never something from the heart. It's always something like cosmetics or designer clothing; anything to improve my appearance.

I turn around and flop down onto my bed just thinking about what life might be like away from Forks. I'll be going to collage in the fall. My parents are sending me to Dartmouth to study Law. I told Candice to ask them if I could go to an art school. Their response; "Casey doesn't even like art." Word for word. There is no use arguing with them. I guess lawyer it is. They even mentioned paying to open my own firm.

I shut my eyes tight to keep the angry tears from falling. They don't even know me. They are going to ruin my life. All I want is to be normal. Not special or important. Not accomplished or successful. Just normal. That is what I want. It is all I have ever wanted. They kept me in this rainy town my whole life. I've been quarantined like an epidemic just because of their emotional pain. Sometimes I hate Nessie. If it wasn't for her maybe I would be living a normal life somewhere. Maybe I would have parents who loved me and cared about my interests. I would have friends and maybe even a boyfriend. I might even be going to an art school and in a few years I would settle down with someone special and we would have kids and be; just be. But, of course that's not doable. I have to be better than every normal person when that's all I have ever wanted to be.

I put a pillow over my head and scream as loud as I can. And, with that I calm down and put all this to the back of my mind where it belongs and drift of into a sleep.

When I wake, there is a note on my desk from Candice saying she went to run some errands and that breakfast is in the microwave. I check the clock; it's four thirty in the morning, but I'm starving. I put on my slippers and shuffle downstairs in my groggy state. As I walk towards the kitchen, I hear someone shuffling through the fridge. I freeze.

"Hello?" I call walking slowly into the kitchen. I peak around the wall. Someone in baggy cotton sweatpants is standing at the fridge. But, the door is in front of their face so I can't tell who it is.

They stopped moving when I called out.

"Hello?" I asked again.

"Casey, honey, go back to sleep its four thirty." A girl says. I recognize her voice but I can't quite tell who it is.

"Who are you?" I ask. It gets very quite as if she is trying to decide if she should tell me who she is or not. I hear a chocked sob. "Are you okay?" I ask suddenly worried. Although this is a strange woman in my house, I step forward wanting to make sure they are okay.

"I'm fine." She blurts. "Just go back up to bed."

"Who are you?" I ask again.

There is another sob before she answers. "Honey, it's me. Bella, your mom." She sobs again. "Just go back up to bed."

I'm shocked. I have never seen one of my parents walking about the house. They stay in their wing of the mansion and have Candice gets everything for them. "What are you doing walking around?" I slip before I can think. Crap, I probably offended her.

"I don't know." She answers with the fridge still in front of her face. "Just, please, go up to bed." She repeats. Now I'm offended.

"I get it." I say, close to tears. "You don't want me. You never wanted me." I blurt and run back up to my room before she can have time to respond.

I throw myself on the bed again. This is getting old. It had been like this my whole life, so why should it be effecting me so greatly now. I force myself to sleep again. My tears help as they are making my eyes heavier.

My Mom sounded so young. She could even be my age. I mean, if I calculated things right she should be in her thirties by now. She sounded and looked no older than seventeen. She was even wearing the some sweatpants as me.

I go down after an hour and get something to eat. There are pancakes in the microwave as Candice promised. I eat in silence at the big unnecessary dining table and think.

I hear the doorbell ring but think nothing of it. Candice usually answers the door. After another moment the doorbell rings again and I remember that Candice is out. I run to the door in my slippers, sweatpants, and tank-top. I fling the door open.

"I'm sorry about that; I thought someone else would get it…" I stop when I see his face. I had no idea a single person could have so much good looks. His skin was tan and smooth, and his hair was the perfect combination of black and brown. "H-hi." I stammer.

"Hi." He sounds shocked as well. After a minute of staring at me he continues talking. "I, uh, I need to speak with Edward." He said. "please." He added quickly as if I would be offended if he didn't.

"Just go on up" I said and gave him directions on how to get there. He lingers as he walks up the stairs.

I walk back to the table and sit down, in my daze. I have rarely seen any guys my age so I don't know if he is good looking or if I just think so. But, I could tell he though I was pretty hot. I smiled to myself. My smile faded as I realized I what I was wearing. Ugg, he was probably just laughing at me.

I hear him come walking down the stairs again a couple minutes later, and walk over to him. He just stands there and looks at me. It is silent for a few moments as he just stares. I figure I'm the one that needs to break the silence.

"Are you all set?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I am." He said as if waking from a dream. "What's you name, before I go I just wanted to know that. I mean if you don't think it's weird or…" He babbled.

"It's Casey." I cut him off.

"I'm Seth." He said. "Are you related to the Cullens?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm their daughter." I say as if it is obvious. He is confusing me. If he is friends with Dad then shouldn't he know that he has a daughter?

His eyes go wide. "I thought Nessie died…" He was confused.

I am speechless. They don't even tell their friends that I exist.

"She did." I stated emotionlessly. "I'm adopted."

"Oh! Did they adopt you recently?" He asks. "I know they can be charitable people."

"No. I was four when they adopted me." I answered.

He looked even more confused.

"You don't see me around because my parents hate me." I say like it was normal. I'm just so mad about everything right now and I feel like I need someone to talk to.

"I'm sure they don't hate you." He said.

"They stay up in their room and never come down. I haven't seen them or talked to them in fifteen years." I explain. "My nanny, Candice, looks after me." I run my fingers through my hair and take a deep, shaky breath. It feels good to tell someone, even a stranger. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I have been crying so much lately, but, these feel weird because they are happy tears.

"I'm sorry." He says after a long pause. "So, do you know about them?" he asks.

My head shoots up at this. "What do you mean?" They are keeping more secrets from me?!

"Never mind." He says too fast. I am automatically suspicious.

Again we just stare at each other. He looks guilty, like he know something that I don't and he feels bad that he isn't telling me. He looks so full of mystery. And, the weird thing is that for once in my life I actually want to get to know him. I see kids running around the neighborhood all the time, I greet people at the grocery store, and when I go out to get the mail, but never once have I wanted to know more about them. I find myself moving closer to him, our eyes locked. When I notice it, I stop myself.

"So, how do you know my dad?" I ask him, a feeble attempt to know one tim-bit of information about him.

"We're just old friends. "he says looking up the staircase and smiling slightly. He looks back at me "Well, I should get going." He says, and starts towards the door, still lost in his memories.

"Wait!" I blurt when he has his hand on the handle. He turns around and I step towards him. "You know something I don't." I state.

He looks at me and breaks into a grin. Slowly, he nods.

"Something big." I continue.

"Huge" he mouths.

I move in even closer. "Tell me." I whisper.

He looks up at the staircase one last time, grabs my hand and pulls me out the door with him.

Yes? No? REVIEW PLEASE.

-C.C

(I just realized those are the initials of the main character. HAHA. Casey Cullen)