Ever since I was ten, I have no recollection of what happened to my family. The only thing i remember is waking up in a hospital. The doctors told me i hit my head. They all looked at me funny but in a sad way. I knew something was wrong. I did not remember my mom or dad at the time but i still asked for them. When the doctors did not speak, i screamed until someone did. A social worker. She explained that there was a fire but i was the only one that made it. I was outside the house in the front lawn unconscious as the house burned. There were no signs of who started the fire. I was so broken. I was bounced from foster home to foster home. I was a good child, the families were not so great though. I was abused viciously. They told me not to speak of it everytime but i did. I would rather be put back into the system and never adopted than to live a life full of hurt.
At the age of thirteen, I was finally adopted by a man named Billy Black. He was a really ice native man. He had a son and two daughters; Jacob, Rebecca and Rachael. They liked me, expect for his son. For some reason he hated me and so did his friends. From elementary school to high school they have picked on me for being and looking different. Calling me "pale-face" and "Weird eyes". This lasted for four years but then things started to change. Jacob and his friends stopped teasing me and kept to themselves. They always hung out in groups and just watched the area. There would be times where Jacob would leave the house really late at night and not come back the next day and Billy would act like it were normal. He would also avoid me like the plague. He still looked at me like he didn't want me around and we haven't talked since we met.
I hated that he hated me and I hated that the twins left me here. College would have been an option for me but for some reason, Billy panics at the thought of me leaving the reservation so I dealt with him to stay put and take online college courses.
"That's fine I can help pay for the classes with the leftover money from Sarah's life funds." My eyes widened at the fact that he offered to use his dead wife's money.
"No! No, I can pay for them they cost three hundred per semester. The cafe is hiring. I can get a job there." I stood from my seat across from him at the table and took his plate. We had just finished breakfast. I left the rest left over for Jacob even though he never thanks me for doing these things. I don't do it for respect i just don't waste food and from what I have seen, he eats like his stomach has no limit.
"Are you sure hon'? You do more than enough work cleaning people's homes and gardening." Billy pulls himself from the table.
"Yes I am sure. I already have money ready. I have this under control." I smile and start on the dishes. With a grumble, Billy turns away and announces that he will be watching tv in the living room. I finish the dishes and run to the bathroom turning on the shower. I always hum when I'm in the shower. It helps me think. There is always this lullaby that pops into my head I recall Jacob singing when we were younger. He would sing it when he was scared or that was what Billy told me. It just stuck with me and now, I hum it.
The shower water gets a little cooler so I quickly wash myself and my hair with my vanilla scented wash and shampoo. Since the men don't really care about hair care in this house, I let my hair air dry.
I wrap myself in the towel still humming the song and exit the bathroom. From the corner of my eye, i thought i saw something move but when I looked, nothing was there. Perhaps it was Billy Wheeling around.
I get dressed quickly in a white button up blouse and a pair of black loose fitting pants. I slip on a pair of flats and exit to the bathroom again to look at myself in the mirror. My hair was still wet but I could see waves forming the more it dries. I never did much to make myself look appealing. The was never a goal. I just brushed my teeth and prepared to leave to house.
I walk down the hall to the living room to say goodbye to Billy but i notice Jacobs door is open just a little. He had been gone for two days and now he is back. I can hear him snoring lightly. I tip-toe quietly past his room and I walk into the living room bidding Billy goodbye until later. I glance into the kitchen and i notice the food I left out was all gone showing Jacob devoured everything before he collapsed.
I enter my rusted old truck that i shared with him until his finished working on his own vehicle. I asked what he was working on and the only response i got a glare so i never asked again. The weird thing is that when he leaves, he never takes the truck with him. He just disappears. I don't know if it is because he hates the smell of my shower gel or if it's just the fact that he shares with me in general.
I start the truck and make my way down the gravel road toward the small cafe that sits in a very tiny town in La Push.
I quickly find a parking space and settle there. I look at myself in the rear-view mirror. My hair is dry and wavy the sun have it a shiny look. I smile widely to check if my teeth are white. Once my inspection is over, I leave my truck and enter the small Quileute cafe called the Wolf's Den. It was dimly lit with warm colors and smelled of fresh coffee and pancakes.
A young native girl spots me and hurries to help.
"Hello, my name is Kim. Welcome to the Wolf's Den, Would you like me to show you to your table?" Kim is cute with large dark eyes a button nose and long straight hair. She held the traits of a beautiful young native which made me jealous. Her gorgeous tanned skin compared to my extremely white skin. Her bone straight black hair compared to my dark brown wavy locks. Not to mention our eyes are far from the same color. I feel regret sitting in my stomach. I shouldn't have come here. What if i don't get the job?
"Hi, no, um-actually-I am here because I saw in an ad you guys were hiring for a baker so i decided to come down and give it a shot." My palms are starting to sweat.
"Oh! Of course wait here, and I will get my boss." Kim skips away and around the other waitresses who were busy taking orders from customers.
In no time Kim came back with a nice woman following her. She was absolutely beautiful. She looked like Kim but her face held three large scars going down her face making her left eye droop slightly as well as the left end of her mouth. She still had a gorgeous face.
"Hello, I hear you are interested in the baker's position here?" The woman holds out her hand. I look at her nametag and notice her name is Emily.
"Yes. My name is Isabella Swan It is nice to meet you Miss…" We shake hands.
"Just call me Emily. You are very beautiful Bella. Billy has told me a lot about you."
"Thank you. You are gorgeous. I hope they are all good things." I laugh. Try not to be awkward.
"Thank you and they are all good things, I promise." She laughs. " Well to see if you are right for the job, I would like to take you to the back and see how good your baking is. The things you will be baking our pies, muffins and cookies of different flavors. Are you up for the challenge?" Emily leads me to the back after I agree. The kitchen in large and spacious for us to move around which is good. On busy days, space is needed when everyone is rushing around.
"What is my first dessert?" I ask. I prep myself as Emily goes into boss-mode and gave the orders.
After three hours of baking every pie, cookie and muffin known to man, Emily set them out and allowed the customers to decide. Everyone that did get deserts said they were the best they ever had.
"You're making me jealous, i think they like you deserts more than they like my own." Emily jokes. Everything was almost gone.
"Thank you. Also I have had your pies and they are unbelievable." I wasn't lying.
"Thank you Bella. Well, from the outcome of today, i have to admit you are the best at what you do. I would love for you to work with us." After the great news, I get my apron and platinum engraved name tag. Over joyed and tired, I thanked Emily and said goodbye to Kim before leaving the cafe and heading back home.
It had only reached three in the afternoon when i returned. When i left the truck, i hear music blasting from the garage that belonged to Jacob and loud laughter. My only guess is that he was there working on his truck and the guys were over. They never bothered to look my way anymore. I went from being their target to being invisible. I guess that was their way of maturing from being a bully. As long as I didn't have to deal with anymore torment.
I made my way into the house and noticed it was empty. Billy must have gone fishing with Larry Clearwater.
If that were the case, i would make sure dinner was ready before seven. I decided on beef and potato stew. I opened three large packages of raw beef and threw it in a saucepan where it simmered. While that was cooking, I cut about twenty potatoes and paced them in a large pot and let them boil until soft. I began humming again to clear my mind. Cooking went by faster that way.
In an hour or two, the stew was finished and it was officially five thirty. I looked out the window over the sink and saw a shirtless Jacob entering the truck with two burly men whom were also shirtless. As he settled in, he made this weird face and his nostrils flared. His eyes closed for a moment but popped back open and landed on me. I gasped and looked away pretending to do the dishes until i saw the trucks headlights turn away.
"Jeez." I sighed and put a top cover on the pot of stew.
Surely My scent couldnt have bothered Jacob that much. My shampoo isn't the girly strawberry stuff. It simply smells like vanilla. It hardly leave a smell that long. I always want to ask what his problem was with me but I never had the guts to say anything. He knows everything that has happened to me in the past, I over heard Billy telling him so why couldn't he just cut me some slack? Were the physical scars that I carried not enough?
I feel myself begin to get emotional. I am angry and hurt that he and his friends turn a blind eye to what they were doing. It all stopped but i got no apology. EVen without one i try to show respect and i still get none back.
I leave the house and sit on the porch stairs. The starts are already beginning to show. There is only a field of grass surrounding the small shack, then a large group of trees that reaches out. I wish I were as free as the breeze that flowed around me. Nature always held a piece of me. Ever since I came here, ever since the tormenting stopped, I felt a change within myself. The need to run with bare feet rushed through my veins. I hate fighting what i feel but i decide to stay where it's safe for Billy's sake. So he wouldnt worry.
"But still…" I say to myself.
It is five fifty and i see the truck headlights down the road. I gained better eye sight in the dark as i got older. My eyesight was so good, i could see into the forest from over twenty feet. Of course i have never seen anything interesting.
"Bella! How did it go?" Billy is set in his wheelchair by Jacob who makes no eye contact with me at all and it makes me upset.
"It went well. I got the job." I smile and stand as he wheels toward me. Jacob walks quickly past me careful not to touch.
"That's great! I knew you would get it. Did you hear that, Jake?" Billy says Jacobs nickname hard.
Jacob doesn't respond right away. He halts his steps slightly, nods and continues through the door. I see him turn toward the kitchen and I am sure he is making himself a plate.
"Don't mind him. He will come around, I am sure." Billy tries to reassure me but I am not very convinced. I help him up the ramp and into the house. Jacob has already disappeared with his bowl of stew in the living room with the television on blast. I make myself and Billy and bowl. I am not in the mood to talk and he knows why so we eat in silence.
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