Isabella Luna was born on July 26, 1989 in a small hospital in Tennessee. Sometime during the night, as a baby merely a few hours old, she was left in a plastic basinet with a half-filled birth certificate application and a silver necklace with a heart pendant, 'McCarty' inscribed in the back. Her name and that pendant was all she ever got from her mother, who disappeared without ever looking back. Oddly enough, many years later, when she was trying to solve the mystery of her past, her name and that pendant were the keys to it all.
Isabella, which was such a mouthful, was the name she was called only when she was scolded, right only her ma had anymore. Izzy was what everyone called her for as long as she could remember and Izzy it would stay.
Izzy was raised in the Smokey Mountain Children's Home, orphanage only a few miles from where she was born. During her 10 years at that orphanage, she saw many babies come and go and a few toddlers here and there. Sadly everyone knew that once a kid reached a certain age; it didn't have much to look forward to. If the child wasn't adopted by the time they started school, odds were they would be in the orphanage until they became teenagers, at which point they would bounce from foster home to foster home until they turned 18 and the system tossed them aside.
Mary Fox, Izzy's adoptive mother knew firsthand the pain and suffering children in the system suffered. Mary spent the first 12 years of her life at Smokey Mountain, and the next 6 bouncing from foster home to foster home. Strong and determined as she was, Mary put herself through med school, where she met her husband Dr. Benjamin Fox. Unfortunately in their 20 years of marriage they were unsuccessful in having children of their own and finally made the decision to save a couple of kids from the hard life she endured growing up in the system. Sadly Dr. Fox passed away during the process of their first adoption, but that didn't stop Mary.
Mary's first adoption was Daniel, a thirteen year old boy with anger issues after going through as many as 8 foster homes in 2 years. A year later, set in preventing someone from going through what she and Daniel had, she adopted Marcos who was 9 at the time. 2 years later, hoping to add some sugar and spice to the house, she adopted 10 year old Izzy. Andrew was the last to join their home, adopted a year after Izzy and a few weeks before his 10th birthday.
It was no surprise that the kids had major issues to get over, but with Mary's love and patience they all did. It didn't take them long to become a family. The kids became brothers and sister and loved each other as such. Mary was the only mother they knew, the love and devotion she had towards them was more than any real mother would give them and because of that she was 'ma' to them, their mother.
Unlike her brothers who were abandoned or given up without as much as a name, Izzy did have something to go with. When she was 13 Mary helped her solve her life-long question 'where did I come from?' It was only logical the first name they would search would be Isabella McCarty. They never imagined it would be that easy to find her great-grandmother. Unfortunately she had passed away during childbirth in 1954. Finding records after that was quite easy. Her great-grandmother had died having her grandmother Isabella Moore, who they were never able to locate, but they did find she had given birth to Isabella Ambrose in 1974, Izzy's mother. It's usually at that point most go through the 'what do I do now' dilemma, Izzy didn't get that moment, seconds after finding out who her mother was, she found out her mother had passed away a couple of years after Izzy's birth. She was unable to hold the tears in when she read the newspaper clipping.
DRUNK DRIVER SLAMS INTO COLLEGE STUDENT'S CAR AFTER RUNNING RED LIGHT AT 90MPH
- Isabelle Ambrose (19) and her high school sweetheart Adrian Luna (20) both students of Cal State San Francisco were killed instantly last night when George Lansky (54) fell asleep at the wheel while intoxicated, slamming into the small car head on at full speed. Lansky was taken to the hospital following the accident, where he's been in a comatose state.
Izzy didn't get a family, but she already had one and had never been looking for another one. She was looking to find her history and that she did. Her mother Isabella Ambrose had been only 15 when she gave birth to her. Her high school sweetheart has been Adrian Luna. Luna, the last name her mother had given her. Didn't take a genius to figure out who Izzy's father had been. Her name Isabella had been passed on from daughter to daughter throughout generations, and it was nice to know her mother cared enough to give that name to her, even if she couldn't take care of her, but what 15 year old could.
Just when she was closing that chapter in the book of her life, Isabella Salvatore, her great-great-grandmother showed up at Izzy's front door. It took one look from Mrs. Salvatore to know Izzy was family; claiming Izzy was a spitting image of her when she was her age. Isabella Salvatore was a typical oldschool Italian woman, family was of upmost importance and she wanted to know everything there was to know about her. Izzy spent that summer in her great-great-grandmother's estate in Tennessee, getting to know her and learning about her family's history. Mrs. Salvatore didn't expect to take Mary's place but she did ask her for one favor, for Izzy to the McCarty name in her daughter's honor. Izzy became Isabella Luna McCarty. Two days before Izzy was to fly back to Mary and her brothers, Mrs. Salvatore passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Mrs. Salvatore left her estate, her properties and all of her assets to Izzy. For someone who grew up with nothing, money didn't have much importance. Yeah she had enough money to never have to worry about it, but the best thing that old lady gave her was her acceptance, her history and a letter that she would cherish forever.
Mary placed most of Izzy's money in a trust fund she'd be getting on her 18th birthday but she did give her a pretty good allowance and when it was time, she was ok with her buying any wheels she wanted for her 16th birthday. Of course she had no clue those wheels would be a motorcycle, but not just any motorcycle, the 2006 MV Agusta f4cc, a 6 figure black piece of art that went from 0 to 60 in 2.3 seconds and reached speeds of 200mph. She was sure to get an earful but it was worth it. She knew her brothers would love the bike, but overprotective as they always were, they wouldn't be too happy with her being the one riding it. Of course Izzy wasn't one to back down, ever, so they would have to get used to it whether they liked it or not.
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The year 2005 started out with a bang. First thing in the morning on New Year's Day, D (Daniel), her oldest brother, who was in the marines, called to let the family know he was being deployed to Iraq. From that day on, the entire family gathered before going to bed and prayed he'd be safe and make it home that way. A couple of months later Mary got offered a job at the Forks Hospital in some little town in the always rainy Washington.
Mary moved to Forks with Andy (Andrew) and Mark (Marcos) in early June. Izzy was the only one who made a fuzz about moving during the summer and just before her Sweet 16. Mary was cool enough to let her stay in San Diego with her bestfriend Ariel until summer was over and it was time to start her junior year. Convincing her to allow her drive to Forks alone was a lot harder but eventually she caved as Izzy knew she would.
Her Sweet 16 was nothing more than a few girls having a wild and crazy sleepover at Ariel's beach house but the sweetest part of turning 16 was getting her driver's license. Knowing Mrs. Duval, Ariel's mom would ratt Izzy out about the motorcycle, Manny, D's bestfriend, who had taught her how to ride a bike in the first place, hid the bike at his house until it was time for her to ride it to Forks. Sneaky as she was, Izzy told Ariel's mom her 'wheels' would be delivered the day before her departure, which she had strategically chosen the weekend Mrs. Duval had to fly to New York for a conference.
On Thursday morning the movers picked up all of Izzy's stuff from Ariel's pool house. That afternoon Mrs. Duval flew to New York. That night Manny dropped off her bike. Friday morning Izzy was on her way to Forks. Knowing Mary would be worried sick and expecting to her to stop every few hours and call her with an update, Izzy told everyone she wasn't going until the following week.
The ride to Forks wasn't so bad. Izzy made sure to stop to pick out a safe motel (with a hot tub to relax in) and pulled in before it got dark. After an enormous dinner and couple of hours of soaking in steamy bubbly water, she melted into bed for a good night's sleep. Even though she overslept, it would be ok because she would make it to Forks just as the sun set. After a quick shower and a mountain sized brunch, she was back on the road.
As planned, it was just after 6pm when Izzy reached Forks. It was a small little town in the middle of the woods. And from the looks of it not much happened around those parts because it seemed like the circus had arrived town when she drove by, everyone and their momma came out or peaked outta windows to see the mysterious rider in the black motorcycle. She couldn't help but laugh imagining the shock they were gonna get when they found out it was a girl.
Mary was sitting on the porch, sipping on a cup of tea, not expecting anyone to show up. The look on her face when the bike pulled up on her driveway was priceless. Mary's arms where around her before she could even get her helmet off.
"Isabella Luna McCarty" she scolded with a tight hug "A bike? No wonder you kept it a secret. I'm so glad you're here though, honey. You're safe and in one piece but we're definitely talking about this later, young lady
"Nice to see you too, Ma" Izzy laughed "And you said any wheels I wanted, can't back out now"
"You're gonna be the death of me" she shook her head in what Izzy knew was defeat.
"Where are my brothers?"
"Mark has become really good friends with some boys from the Quileute reservation in LaPush" Ma answered. Izzy knew from previous conversations that LaPush was about 15 minutes from there "They're having some sort of party and Andy's dj'ing so they left early to set up and stuff. But you can see them later" she said pulling her in the house "You need a shower and a hot meal"
Nothing hits the spot like some home cooking. While having a large plate of Ma's homemade lasagna and garlic knots, they caught up on everything that had happened during the summer. Ma talked about the hospital and the ruckus Mark and Andy had been causing in Forks and LaPush and Izzy talked about the latest beach news and all her summer adventures.
"Why don't you head out to that party, honey" Ma suggested "You can see your brothers who've been dying to see you and you can meet some of the local kids"
"I don't know, Ma" Izzy scrunched up her nose "I can't just show up uninvited"
"I'm supposed to pick them up later" Ma smiled "You can say I sent you too early" when she saw Izzy was not too fond of the idea she pulled the ace out of her sleeve "There's some very cute, very single bo-oys"
"Will I get lost?" Izzy smirked, causing Ma to smiled in triumph
"Psh!" Ma rolled her eyes "No way you can get lost around here, there is one road in and out of the rez. Besides, it's so quiet around here you can hear a pin drop, sounds of a party are probably gonna be heard all the way over here"
Finding clothes to wear to the party was not easy. All her stuff was still on its way from San Diego, only thing she found was a box of old clothes of hers Ma was gonna donate. It was all stuff at least a year or two old but luckily she was able to find a black ruffled skirt she wore to a quinceanera once almost 2yrs prior. At that point the skirt ended just above her knees, two years later the skirt came to her thighs. Rummaging through Ma's closet she was able to find a black tank top that went nice with it, however she would not wear the flats Ma suggested, instead she went with the white with black oldschool Adidas Izzy had made her buy long ago and Ma had only worn once or twice. After a shower, Izzy got dressed up, took Ma's car and headed to LaPush.
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Jake was never big on parties but it was Embry's birthday and he couldn't leave his best friend hanging. Embry and Quil had been going on and on about the party for weeks. Apart from the kids from school, Mark and Andy, who had been cool friends with them since they met them surfing at First Beach at the beginning of summer had invited some kids from Forks, more specifically and most importantly for Quil and Embry, they had invited girls from Forks.
The guys had been egging Jake on about finding a girlfriend, but as his best friends they knew well he only had eyes for one girl, Bella Swan. Unfortunately Bella saw him as a kid, worst than that, she saw him as her kid brother. All she ever saw was that pale, over-gelled pretty boy Edward Cullen. Maybe the guys were right and it was his lucky night. Yeah right, like Jacob Black had that kinda luck.
Mark, who was almost 6 feet tall with dark spiky hair, medium complexion and big brown eyes, was pretty funny and outgoing, he fit right in with Quil and Embry but Andy, who was about 5'8, dark blonde, light skinned with big blue eyes, was a pretty quiet kid. He and Seth hung around more and Jake could see how they got along so good, they were alike in many ways. It surprised him when he mentioned Dj'ing had been a hobby of his, and volunteered for Embry's party. Jake was happy Mark and Andy showed up early to set up the dj'ing station caused they helped with the rest of the set up and got Jake out of it.
By the time Jake arrived to Embry's house, the party was in full swing. The thumping music could be heard throughout the rez and when he got there it was obvious Mark and Andy delivered, there were plenty of Forks girls dancing away as Andy did his thing in the porch. With one hand on his earphones and another on the turntables, he looked up for half a second and nodded with a smile to Jake before spinning away.
As he had expected, Mark was dancing with some girls while Embry and Quil stood in the gateway, greeting people, obviously too scared to actually approach a girl.
"You're the birthday boy, aren't you supposed to be dancing?" Jake teased Embry
"Later" Embry lied
"We're greeting people" Quil added
"We?" Jake laughed "It's his party, dumbass, you aint got nothing to do with it"
"Shut up, Black!"
"You're just looking for an excuse to get outta talking to the girls"
"Says the guys who shoo's away all the girls at school" Embry cocked his brow
Jake was about to tell them off when his attention was called down the street. Walking towards the house was a girl he had never seen before, something that never happened. When living in such small towns as Forks and LaPush, everyone knew everyone, even if they didn't know each other personally; they'd at least seen each other around. Jake looked at Quil and Embry who shook their heads at him, answering his silent question, they didn't know who she was either.
The girl was about his age, pretty tall for a girl, maybe 5'9, chestnut hair that ended just above the small of her back, sunkissed skin, big green eyes, cute little nose and pouty lips, banging body with curves in all the right places and long toned legs she was showing off with a short skirt. There was no other word to describe her but gorgeous. The realization that he found her gorgeous startled Jake. First of all it surprised him that he even noticed her when he'd spent the last 3 months in a Bella-daze, even more surprising was that physically she was the polar opposite of Bella and yet he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Excuse me, where can I find Mark?" she asked a group of kids that were gathered a few feet from the gate
"He's dancing in there" one the kids answered, pointing to Embry's front yard where all the kids were dancing.
It was obvious everyone was looking at her with the same curiosity Jake was. There was a large group of kids bundled up right outside the gate and as she struggled her way to get through, no one moving out of her way, too busy gawking, he was tempted to push them outta her way.
A second later he was so glad he didn't. She was so preoccupied with making sure she didn't bump into anyone, she didn't notice the ground was uneven and tripped a step away from the gate, her stumble bringing her straight into Jake.
He stabled her with a gentle grasp of her elbow but let go immediately after he knew she wasn't gonna fall. In her efforts to catch herself, she ended up placing her hands on Jake's chest, hands she had yet to remove.
"I'm sorry" she smiled up at him. Her jade-green eyes were even prettier up close and her scent was clean and crisp, like pears. Jake suddenly realized her hands were still on him and he felt his cheeks redden as he looked down at his chest. She followed his eyes and quickly removed her hands "Oh my god, I'm so, so sorry" she said hiding her hands behind her back, thinking Jake's silence was due to annoyance and not nerves.
"It's ok" he smiled at her. The smile she gave him in return had him feeling all funny inside.
Jake completely ignored the two dumbasses in front of him, staring with mouths wide open. He was busy working up the nerve to introduce himself and ask her name when it happened.
"IZZY!" Mark yelled
She snapped her head around and with a smile from ear to ear they ran to each other. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arm around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around in circles.
Jake felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
