BPOV:

Phoenix, Arizona. The one place I was happy up until my mother got into that fatal car accident. When I was 3, my mother Renee decided to leave my father Charlie in Forks, Washington because she "felt suffocated in the smallest and wettest town she's ever been to". We moved here to Phoenix where Renee became a second grade teacher for Summit Elementary School and later married Phil Dwyer. He wasn't a bad guy, I liked him. He wasn't home much though because he was always on the road training since he was a minor league baseball player. Renee never got the chance to go with him when he went away because of her job. When he was on the road, she was always sad. Although Phil was a bit too young for her, they were in love nonetheless.

I will never forget the day I got the devastating news of my mothers death. It was my senior year in high school and I was sitting in my third period Spanish class. I was called to the office where Phil was already sitting in the waiting area. When I walked in he was already crying and shaking in the chair. Automatically, I knew something had happened to Renee. We took our seats in the principals office and the room was filled with silence. My mind was racing with different scenerios of what could have happened. It was much worse than I thought. When Phil was finally able to speak, he had told me my mother was dead.

I sat there stunned and unable to register what Phil had just told me. I wanted to scream and cry and raise hell, but I was frozen in place trying to understand what I had just been told. Renee was on her way to work this morning when she had lost complete control of her car and smashed into a rail along side the highway. The car was totalled and they had to use the "Jaws of Life" to get her out from the car. She was still breathing when they retrieved her from the car but had died on the way to the hospital.

The first 2 months after her funeral were painful. I was a complete zombie. Everyday was the same for me. I had gotten up early in the morning and made myself breakfast, head to school, do all the things that needed to be done there, then return home and lock myself in my room. By the end of the second month, my senior year had come to an end. I passed, though they weren't the best grades I had ever had, I passed and that was all that mattered. I decided that I wasn't going to participate in the graduation ceremony because it wouldn't be as great as it should have been without Renee there.

Phil dropped out of the minor league after Renee passed. He was unable to go on with his life and was more of a zombie than I was. Some days he never got out of bed.

It was strange living with him and the day after school got out, I decided I couldn't stay with him any longer and I would go to live with my father in Forks, Washington.

~**********~

I hate flying and I was extremely glad that the person next to me got to the window seat first. If I had to sit there, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. It's already hard enough just being on this plane having to look out the window would have made it much more worse. These seats were uncomfortable and the person sitting behind me wouldn't stop kicking my chair ever since the plane took off. So I decided to just sit still and listen to Clair de Lune from Debussy. It was my favorite classical song and the only thing keeping me sane right now.

I saw a few signs light up on the cabin overhead so I turned my iPod off to hear what the flight attendant had to say.

"Please fasten your seat belts, we will be landing shortly."

I waited for everyone to get off the plane before me then I grabbed my carry-on luggage and walked out of the terminal. The air port was small and it didn't take me very long to find Charlie. I hadn't seen him since the summer when I was 14 years old. It was the last time I came to visit him because he became busy at work and didn't have time for me during the summer anymore.

"Hey Bells, I've missed you" Charlie said with a small smile on his lips and gripped me into a tight hug. He was never one to get emotional so this gesture sure did surprise me.

"Hey Dad, I've missed you too." It was the truth.

He took my bags from me and put them in the trunk of his cruiser. It was a bit embarrassing to be driven around in it. It made me feel like a criminal. Hopefully I'd be able to get my own car soon. The rest of the drive to Charlie's house was quiet. We sat in silence but it wasn't awkward. Charlie was the type that didn't feel the need to fill every silent moment with conversation. For that I was thankful because I enjoyed the silence.

When we pulled into the drive way, there was an old red Ford truck sitting there. It was beautiful and I wondered who it belonged to.

"Whose truck is that?" I asked, wondering if maybe we had company for the night.

"Yours."

"Whaaaat?" I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice.

"Do you like it?" he asked trying not to show that he was worried I didn't.

"I freakin' love it dad!" I was jumpy and I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet.

A smile played across his face and in the moment I knew, I was going to enjoy staying with Charlie.