Chapter 1- Shape up, or Ship out
Being the thirteen year old daughter and only child of two wealthy workaholics is a big deal in a small town; I happen to be one of those "lucky" thirteen year old girls that get loads of attention. Yes, there were perks to having quite a bit of money that your parents got from putting in extra hours and working holidays; I always had the newest version of the best cell phone and my entire wardrobe looked as if it had come right out of a Ralph Lauren magazine (which it had). Everyone wanted to be friends with me; for my money of course. Nobody really cared about me though.
So, yes, being Isabella Swan had its advantages at times, but it also has a bad side; I had no friends that I wanted to keep in touch with outside of school, I wasn't pretty enough to look like I belonged in such gorgeous clothing, and everybody only wanted to be my "friend" so they could use me.
This built up over time to "The Incident", as my parents had dubbed it. I had bottled everything up- the problems with not having any true friends, my parents never being there for me, my struggles to be the perfect daughter, constant bullying at school- I just lost my control and let my anger out on a girl who had messed with me today.
It started this morning when my parents had told me that I would be left in the care of a nanny for three months while they went to some foreign country on a business trip and that I'd better behave myself. This meant that I would be left at home, with some old lady I didn't know, for my birthday on August 13th , and if I gave her any trouble I would face major consequences. I currently attend intermediate school at St. Paul's Academy for Young Scholars, and I have a thirty minute bus ride to and from school; meaning that if I didn't just accept my parent's plan and hurry up, I would miss my bus.
What had started off as a pretty bad day only got worse when I checked my phone during my fourth period class. My Facebook wall had blown up with horrible posts and comments. Then I realized that pictures from today's lunchtime were circulating through the student body. Lauren Malory, the daughter of one of my parents' employees, had tripped me and dumped her sloppy joe on my head- someone had taken a video and pictures of me covered in sloppy joe and posted them. I had last period gym class with Lauren next and I planned on confronting her about it.
When the bell rang, signaling end of period, I made my way to the school's gymnasium. As I reached the girl's locker room, I noticed that Lauren was standing with her beach blonde bimbo posse and I overheard their conversation as I unlocked my locker and changed into my gym clothes. "She is such a wannabe. She thinks that just because her family has money that she can be popular like me. Ugh, what a loser!" I'd had it with Lauren's games.
It was then that she passed me at my locker and said in her high- pitched nasal voice, "You. Are. Pa-the-tic. Maybe that's why mommy and daddy are ditching you for the summer, they just don't care enough about you to bother taking you with them. I don't blame them. Your parents must be pretty good people though, because if you were my kid, I would be ashamed to even let you out of the house". That was the last straw.
I lunged at Lauren and my fist snapped forward and connected with her nose with a satisfying crunch. I enjoyed it so much that I continued to pummel her face until she was supporting herself on the lockers behind her and she was completely covered in blood. I was then dragged by the school's police officer to the dean's office, to wait for one of my parents to come to the school and meet with the school board to discuss my punishment before taking me home.
Anyways, that is how I ended up here, in my parents' office, waiting to hear what my punishments (one from the school, and one from my parents) were. Father was on the conference phone in the office calling in from work and Mother sat across from me at her desk. They were both very unhappy."Isabella Marie Swan, " Uh, oh. He had used my full name- I must be in BIG trouble. "Your mother and I are very, very disappointed with your recent behavior. Blowing off your studies, pushing off you piano lessons, quitting the school cheerleading team. And now you have been expelled from the best private school in the entire country! You have disappointed us greatly. I am sorry Isabella, but we can't let this continue. Therefore, your mother and I have decided that you will attend high school at the Roger Williams Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island. Your cousins, Rosalie and Jasper attend school there and they are only a grade level higher than you. You will be arriving there on August 1st , and classes begin on the 7th ".
I just sat there slack jawed. Expelled. Boarding school. Rhode Island? Rosalie and Jasper. August 1st. I was overwhelmed to say the least. Somehow my brain formed a sentence, "May I be excused?" Mother was the one to reply, as Father had already hung up the phone, "Of course darling, dinner will be served at 6pm as usual, I expect you will be present?" Her words entailed that I could choose not to come, but her tone implied what the correct answer was, "Of course Mother."
I was always the proper young lady that my parents expected me to be. Oh, how that would change when I move cross- country to the foreign state named "Rhode Island" and start a new life where nobody except my cousins knew anything about me. I could be a whole new person. This was my much anticipated chance at a normal life. This meant I'd finally get my Freedom.