Secrets

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Angela walked down the halls of Forks High School, hand in hand with her loving boyfriend Ben. They were going to lunch, Angela's almost favorite class. It would have been her favorite if she didn't have to sit with Jessica. She loved the girl, but sometimes her questions got insanely annoying. She and Ben entered the cafeteria, quickly got their lunches and took their usual seats at the 'Cullen' end of their table. Lunch passed like any other day. Angela listened to Edward, Alice and Bella discuss things like graduation, joining in every so often. She watched Edward as he watched Bella. The love and adoration was very clear in his eyes. Angela smiled to herself, immensely pleased for her friend. She looked at her own boyfriend as he talked about some odd game Angela had never heard about. She was so happy Ben had finally mustered up the courage to ask her out. He was so cute, and while Angela didn't quite have the same interests as he did, she loved him dearly. Angela couldn't wait until they were in college together, taking classes and studying.

"Angela?" asked Bella, looking at Angela with an unfathomable expression.

Angela looked up. "Yes?"

"Do you think maybe we could hang out tomorrow? Edward and his family are going camping this weekend and I'd love to spend some time with you." Bella was biting her bottom lip and looking worried.

"Of course, Bella, I'd love that," Angela answered, smiling warmly. What could Bella be so anxious about? "You could come over after school, if you wanted."

Bella sighed, relieved. "That would be great. Thanks so much."

Angela just smiled at Bella. She must just be worried about Edward, though Angela couldn't see why. The Cullens went camping all the time; there was certainly nothing to worry about. She continued to listen to people's conversations until the bell for the end of the period rang. Ben escorted her to English class before going to Math himself.

Angela sat through her last two classes, utterly bored. She already had the credits and the grades to graduate! Plus she could do fine in school without even trying. All she really wanted to do now was spend time with Ben and sometimes Bella.

The last bell finally rang, to Angela's complete joy. She walked from the art room to her locker and quickly gathered her things. Ben met her at her locker 2 minutes later.

"Hey Ang!" Ben said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. Angela smiled and lightly swatted him away. She disliked public displays of affection, but not enough to make Ben stop completely. He grabbed her hand and led her out to his car. Angela had never liked Ben's car. It was an ugly green and looked like it had been in existence for over a decade. The horrible paint was chipping and the rims were rusted. It wasn't even that great a car; it could only go so fast before just plain stopping. But Ben loved it. He had even named it 'Green Baby Apple', a name that Angela would never understand, nor did she want to. 'At least he has a car!' she told herself, as he helped her, unnecessarily, into the passenger's seat. Her parents refused to buy her one, insisting that she wouldn't be able to use it at college anyway, a fact that Angela grudgingly agreed to. She didn't like driving that much anyway. She would leave that to Ben. He got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot, not having to wait in a line of cars because they had left the school before everyone else. Ben drove through town, oddly silent.

"Something wrong?" Angela asked, looking at Ben's worried face.

Ben managed a quick glance at her before turning back to the road. "Nope. Well... I'll tell you about it when we get home."

"Ok," said Angela, confused. Ben wasn't normally worried and she wasn't really sure what he would even have to be worried about. College was set, they were a perfectly happy couple, there was no way he was having trouble with school. At times, Ben was a better student than she was! But she decided to wait until they got to his house to press the matter. She was very surprised when Ben took the turn to go to her house instead of keeping straight to go to his own. "Why are we going to my house?"

"I'll explain when we get there!" Ben answered, a little sharply. Angela frowned, now thoroughly confused. They sat in silence for another minute before Ben pulled into her driveway. They both got out of his car and walked up to her front door. They immediately went up to Angela's room. There was no need to tell her parents, because they weren't here. Angela's parents worked until 5 at the earliest and they had already given her permission to have Ben over pretty much whenever she wanted. Angela knew she deserved this privilege, because her parents had absolutely nothing to worry about. She would not be having sex until her wedding night. Angela was old fashioned in that sense. They sat down on her bed, Angela sitting cross legged at the headboard and Ben sitting the same way across from her.

"Ok," said Angela, settling into her comfy pillows. "Explain, please."

"Well," said Ben, putting his hands on his girlfriend's knees. "You know how my parents have been fighting a lot lately?" Angela nodded. Ben had been talking about his parent's fights for several weeks now. "They left me a message on my phone that I got after school. They're getting a divorce." Angela's heart sank. She knew how much Ben's parents meant to him.

"Oh Ben. I'm so sorry." She leaned forward and wrapped her thin arms around him. He hugged her back and they stayed like that for many long minutes. Eventually, Ben pulled away and it looked like he was wiping tears from his eyes.

"I just can't believe it," he said, quietly, placing his hands back on Angela's knees and staring at them. "They were so perfect when I was little. They were always kissing and laughing. We would go out for family dinners every weekend. I thought they were the perfect couple. I... I always compared you and me to them."

Angela realized she was crying. Mr. and Mrs. Cheney were like her second parents. They had always been so warm when she went to Ben's house. They had often bought her random presents that they thought she might like, an odd book or a set of earrings. Angela grabbed Ben's face and gave him a quick, fierce kiss. She could taste her own tears. She tried to pull away, but Ben held her to him tight. The couple moved to a laying position and tried to kiss away their problems. After a few minutes of that, Angela gently pushed Ben's face away. He moved to sit up, but Angela grabbed his arm. "No. Let's just lay here for a little." She pulled him back down. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, then pressed his forehead to hers and shut his eyes. She shut hers too and they lay like that for a long time, wishing the problems would disappear. The couldn't know, of course, that worse problems lay just ahead.

A/N: This is my first non-harry potter fanfic ever!! So please review and tell me what you thing!!