Disclaimer: This is fanfiction.
Title: 'From Rags to Riches'
Rating: Rated 'M ' for 'Foul language, mild alcohol use, and sexual implications.'
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Family, Friendship, General, High School, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Warnings: Adult Content, Discriminatory Language, Minor Character Death, OOC,
Pairings: Sam/Bella, Paul/Bella
Character/Word Count: 13,215 characters/ 2,545 words
Summary: Bella returns to her hometown after five years of being estranged by her brother and ex-boyfriend so that she may take a vacant position at La Push High.
Author's Notes I: Hi Everyone. This is my new story. I know the summary sucked but I honestly didn't know how to put the plot into simple words. Anyway have a read and let me know what you think. xx
1. From Rags to Riches
I sighed as I kicked the last unpacked box of clothes across my polished wooden floors towards my brand new wardrobe. I had just brought myself a nice little house on the outskirts of La Push and was almost done unpacking the last few items I had brought back with me before I finally called it a night.
The house was small and simple; the way I liked things to be in my life. I had stumbled upon the small brick house not too long after I decided to make the move back to my former hometown. It served its purpose well. It was a three bedroom, one bathroom dwelling, with a wooden deck that ran the entire outside of the house; I had decorated it with simple wicker furniture for when, or if, I ever had anyone over. It was complimented with a simple garden of roses out the front and a long stone path that led down to where I parked my blue Mazda on the dusty driveway that swirled its way from the main drag through the forest to the house. Like I said, it practically sat on the outskirts of La Push. Far enough away that I wouldn't chance a run in with the people that had all but run me out of their lives; on the other hand, it was close enough not to inconvenience me with my day to day life.
I was more than a little apprehensive about the move back to my former hometown, about the chance that I could run into them again. Nevertheless, I wanted to help, needed to help. I felt an obligation to this town and its people. Growing up in La Push was never a bad thing. The people here looked out for each other, and they protected their own. They lived simple lives, not needing much, never wanting much, and getting by on very little.
However, it was with this simple attitude that outsiders gave us the stigma of being poor and in-bred. Of having no to little intelligence or self-worth. That all we were destined to become was low class workers or living off the government. The welfare of the children in La Push was worse. The attendance at La Push high was dismal. The grades of those who did attended weren't any better. Teenagers were constantly getting into trouble with the law, hanging out late, and vandalizing community property; basically, it was all the general teenage rebellious activities.
I wanted to change this, I wanted people in this community to be proud of their heritage and that with hard work, dedication and the right resources they could achieve whatever they wanted. Have whatever they wanted. But a change needed to be made.
What I did have hadn't come easy. I worked hard for what I owned and was dedicated in my education to the point that I graduated within the top three of my class in both high school and college. I had a normal childhood. Well, as normal as they get in La Push. My father left my mother while she was pregnant with me, leaving her to raise both my older brother and myself all on her own. She was a strong woman, a determined woman. She was hard yet caring all at the same time. She was aware of the challenges both my brother and I would face in this world and she wanted us to be prepared. To never back down until we had what we wanted, and, to some extent, we did. That was until my mother got sick. I had just turned fifteen, my brother seventeen. The community pulled together for us. Always coming by to help with anything we may have needed; although, between the two of us, we had managed to get by. The only thing that we really needed was for someone to watch over her while we went to school. It was her last wish that we both graduate. It was something we had both done successfully. Unfortunately, she had only lived long enough to see my brother finish his education. I was still a minor when she passed away, so it fell on my brother to look after me. Something I didn't think he minded too much. I mean, I stayed out of troubled, kept the house clean, and always had a cooked meal on the table for him when he came home.
As I ripped the packing tape off the last box and began to remove the last of my clothes, I couldn't help but reminisce back to that time. The time where my entire life turned around, leading me to leave La Push and go to college. To cut ties with everyone I had ever cared for.
After my mother passed away things turned bad for me for a while. I felt numb... like there was nothing to live for anymore. I had this constant ache in my chest that nothing seemed to ease. I became all except mute. I would walk around in a catatonic state. Only doing what was necessary. I hid myself away from the world. I didn't attend any community functions and school buzzed by in a blur. I lost a lot of weight, probably because I barely ate. I looked hideous, with bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, skin pasty from lack of care. But that was the thing. I didn't care anymore. If life was going to be cruel enough to take my mother from me, why should I care what happened to me.
My brother would try and force me to eat; however, I would have none of it. I felt as if I didn't deserve the food. It was selfish of me; I know that looking back now. But back then, all I could think about was my pain and what losing my mother had done to me. Not once did I think about what my brother was going through. All of a sudden he had to be the man of the house. No, not just the man of the house, but the sole provider. The parent. The guardian. My support. I never even thought about him, and how much all this had affected him.
That all changed when I was sixteen. I began to date one of my brother's friends. It had started out simple. He would always come around after our mother had passed and helped with odd jobs, something the rest of La Push had also taken upon them to do. At first I thought nothing of it. He was my brother's best mate. Nonetheless, he would always seem to turn up just at the right time, just when I felt as if I was going to break down. He would sit and talk with me, over small trivial things at first, then eventually working up to my mother. I began to like spending time with him, and my brother didn't seem to mind. I always thought that my brother had asked him to come around and keep an eye on me, yet I could never be sure.
Things picked up for me from that point. I began to get out again, help within the community, live my life. I apologized to my brother over and over for my stupidity and selfishness during that time. Something he easily forgave me for. I put some weight back on; my skin turned back to normal; the bags under my eyes were all but non-existent. And for that, I had my boyfriend to thank. I thought my brother would freak at the thought of his best friend and I being together, but he was completely supportive.
Then it got serious between us, and our relationship moved to a more sexual nature. Things were good again in my life. My brother and I had never been closer, my relationship with my boyfriend was amazing, to the point that we were considering moving in together, and had been dropping hints about marriage. I was two weeks away from graduating high school. I had received offers from colleges; however, I was not quite ready to leave my brother and man behind. Unbeknownst to me, they had a different idea.
It was like any other normal day for me. Or to anyone on the outside that is what it would have seemed like. I had just returned home from school and was beginning to get the ingredients out for that night's dinner. I had an hour or so before my brother was due home and the food was in the oven cooking, so I decided to pull my school books out and get my homework for the night out of the way so that I could just have dinner before heading over to see my boyfriend. Mid-way through trying to understand the works of Shakespeare, my brother comes storming through the door, slamming it behind him. I jump at the sudden noise and watch as he stalks of to his room. I give him a moment before going to check on him. I stand from my place at the kitchen table and make my way slowly to his room. I can hear draws being slammed and things being thrown around. I gently knock on his door, pushing it open slightly to see him shoving clothes into an old sports bag.
"Paul? What are you doing?" I ask timidly.
He looks at me and sneers. "Get out," he yells before turning back to what he was doing, scaring me slightly. I jump back at the brute force of his voice but remain in his doorway.
"Paul?" I ask again a little louder than the last time
He shoved the last of his things in his bag before stalking towards me. "What is it that you want? Haven't I given you enough? Haven't I given up enough? And for what? So that you can have the happy ever after?" he yells in my face.
I can feel the tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes as he pushes me out of the way into the hallway wall and moves past me into the kitchen.
"PAUL!" I yell, my tears now running full stream down my face, as I chase after him.
"What," he sneers again as he stands in the now open doorway of the house.
"Wh-where are you go-going?" I choke out, wrapping my arms around my body to try and stop the return of the long lost ache.
"Away," he answered a little more softly. Sorry almost. Sad even, before he did a quick 180. "I'm moving out. You don't need me anymore, and I don't want to be here anymore. Go and ruin someone else's life," he screamed before walking out the door. "I don't want to ever see you again," he finished before slamming the door shut.
I ran after him, stopping when I reached the door, opening it and falling to the ground, shocked that I could no longer see him walking away from me. His only family. His baby sister.
I let the tears fall, unable to stop them even if I had wanted too. Questions swirling around in my head. What in the world had just happened? Was this some kind of sick joke? Had I done something wrong? Was I an actual burden to Paul? I know that things between Paul and I had been tense of late, but I thought that was due to work. He began spending less and less time at home and when he was there he would do nothing but pick a fight with me. Yell at me over simple little things: the chicken was under cooked, the dishes weren't done, and there was dust all over the house. It appeared that nothing I could do would keep Paul happy. Eventually, he stopped coming home all together. Thankfully, I found solace in my boyfriend, Sam.
I forced myself up from the ground, wiping the tears from my face as I stumble my way over to the phone, picking up and dialing the all too familiar digits. I wait, listening to the ringing on the other end. I'm snapped from my trance when I heard his husky voice.
"Hello," he answers sharply
"Sam," I breathe out into the phone, feeling slightly relaxed at the mere sound of his voice.
"Bella?" he asks. His tone sharp.
"Yes," I answer. "Sam, Paul left. He just came home and packed his things. He's not coming back," I continue, beginning to sob back into the phone. "I-I- I don't kn-know what I did wro-"
"Bella!" he yells, shocking me.
"Sam?" I beg quietly into the phone. I don't know what I would do if I lost him too.
"What Bella? What can I do for you now? You know what? I don't even want to know. This isn't working. I never loved you. You were just some quick, easy lay for me. It's over. I never want to see you again," he yelled before hanging up on me.
I let the phone fall from my hands. Not caring that it might possibly smash into a thousand pieces as I fall to the ground behind it. Pulling my legs into my chest, I rock myself back and forth, my head slightly hitting the wall of the counter. Tears falling without a barrier. My body numb, the ache back in its entirety again. That was the first and last time I cried myself to sleep.
The two weeks after that passed in a blur. I graduated from school, accepted a scholarship to a University in Washington and packed my belongings. Moving from La Push the second my emotionless graduation was over. As I walked out of the rickety auditorium and to my waiting car, I watched as other students' families and loved ones congratulated them.
Since that day back at my house, I had had no contact with my either Sam or Paul. I even went as far as removing myself from our common friend's lives. Hell, I don't even know how long it took for them to realize that I was no longer on the reservation, and that the house was now empty, not that they would have even cared. But I do know that they did eventually find out. Having received a power bill in error for the house after I had left. It seems that Paul had either moved in himself or rented the place out. Either way, that was the last time I had gained any information on them.
As I hung the last of my clothes, I headed down stairs to the kitchen, grabbing a wine glass from the cabinet before pouring myself a small drink. As I sipped on my wine, I glance around my new, now furnished, house. A small smile pulled on my lips. This was the right decision. I'm not sure yet how or why, but I felt as if this was where I belonged. And I was intent on making this work. I just had to be careful not to run into anyone from my adolescent days. I was here to help the children, not stir up anything with my brother or ex-boyfriend.
Author's Notes II: Well there you have it. Let me know what you think and I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon. Huge 'thank you' to everyone who has helped with this chapter (Derekever, Kym and HaHaThatTickles). I really do appreciate it.
