A/N: A tribute to the three people who kept me going this year: my Jacob, my Edward, and most of all, my Angela
The Year in Review
by writerphilosopher
It had been a rough year for Bella Swan.
She had been through a lot of heartache, more than she had expected. She had fallen in like with at least three guys, but she hadn't even liked them for real; chasing them was just something to do, a way to bide her time in Forks High School. She had lost some of the new friends she thought she had made (though somewhere deep down inside of her she always knew they weren't true friends, would never come close to the real thing). She had cried but once over the change she pretended she wasn't afraid of, couldn't be afraid of. She had worn a brave face and forced herself to go through every day pushing everyone away, refusing to form a connection with anyone because she had never wanted to know them in the first place.
She had pretended to be someone she wasn't, and somewhere along the way, she had become someone she was proud to be.
She had found someone to be like a big brother to her. She had thought she loved him, had thought he loved her, and, though it only turned out to be the love friends or siblings have for one another, she knew she needed it. She didn't deserve Jacob Black, who told her everything would be okay without any real proof, who always said just what she needed to hear, but it was too late to push him away.
She had finally gotten herself a boyfriend. She sat near him for half the year, in three classes. It took her until there was only a week left of school to realize how she felt about him, but it took him that long to ask her out anyway. She didn't deserve Edward Cullen, who told her all the time that he loved her, but it was way too late to push him away.
But the real reason she had survived the year was one person. She hadn't liked her at first, but then, she hadn't liked anyone at first. She had decided by accident that this girl would be the first one allowed in, the one who would finally get her to open up, and the bridge to all the other good things that would happen to her that year. She didn't deserve Angela Weber, who would do anything to see her smile, but it was way past way too late to push her away.
It had been a rough year for Bella Swan.
It had taken all year and three people, but Bella Swan was finally okay with where she was.