Full summary:
The hardest part I know is giving up a little bit of my control... I've been lying to myself. I don't need nobody else. But I do, I need you - The Hardest Part by Laura Welsh ft. John Legend
"I can't believe I'm doing this. I hate romantic grand gestures. I ranted about it for a solid hour just a couple of weeks ago. But here I am, about to make the biggest ass out of myself in the hope of winning him back. When the hell did my life become a chick flick?"
11th grade was hell for Bella; Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater made sure of that. Bella was looking forward to a low key summer that didn't involve any interaction with her bullies. But it turns out, she has more pressing issues to deal with, namely her mom who can't stop cheating on her husbands. Fed up with Arizona, Bella flees to California to stay with her dad and stepmother for the summer. Her dad's neighbors, the Cullen family, take it upon themselves to befriend Bella. One Cullen in particular, Edward, makes Bella feel a lot of conflicting things, and she's pretty sure he does it to annoy her. He "hangs out" with a new girl every other day, and Bella is adamant about never getting involved with a player again. But the more they spend time together, the more they both seem to change.
She doesn't know it yet, but spending time with the Cullens, her dad, and stepmother is just what she needs. One summer completely changes Bella's views on friends, family, and love for the better, but not without some drama along the way. After all, change rarely comes easy.
There will be angst, mainly in the beginning and towards the end, but there will be more humor, fluff, and fun.
Used to be Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater, but I'm changing it up.
"Mom, I'm ho- holy crap!" I started as I crossed the threshold of our front door and then broke into a curse when I realized that there were two very naked bodies tangled together on the couch. I immediately slapped my hands over my eyes and tried to think of anything other than the image seared into my brain.
This wasn't the first time I had walked in on my mom and my most recent stepfather in a less than decent position, but that didn't make the experience any less traumatizing.
"I-Isabella," my mom, Renee, sputtered. The sound of clothes hurriedly being pulled on filled the awkward silence. "You weren't supposed to be home for another couple of hours."
"I think I'm coming down with something. I started to feel a little nauseated when I got to the gym, so I just came back," I responded awkwardly. I didn't mention that what had made me nauseous was seeing Jacob Black and his buddies catcall, hoot, and gesture obscenely at a girl as they followed her into the gym.
"James, I didn't see your car in the driveway so I assumed it'd be safe to come into the house," I joked. The sounds of rustling clothes finally stopped so I assumed they were both dressed.
"Uh, right," a vaguely familiar, male voice answered uncertainly, and I uncovered my eyes.
Phil, our next door neighbor, stood abashedly next to my mom. Realization hit me and my stomach dropped in disappointment.
It suddenly felt like my lungs couldn't get enough air as thoughts of what my summer would be like flew through my mind. Renee would continue her affair until her husband found out, resulting in days and maybe even weeks of explosive arguing, then a nasty and expensive divorce would ensue, and I would have to pick up the pieces of my brokenhearted mother and put her back together again by completely ignoring the fact that it was her fault that all this had occurred in the first place. I knew without a doubt that this would happen, because it had happened four times already. It was some weird, sadomasochistic cycle with my mother, and I would have to deal with it again with Renee's fifth husband, all while dodging Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater.
Nope, I thought to myself while shaking my head.
Without looking at Renee and Phil, I calmly turned to walk up the stairs to my room. I pulled a large suitcase from under my bed, took all of my clothes out of my closet and dresser, and started to pack.
I heard Phil and Renee arguing quietly downstairs but didn't care enough to try to make out what they were saying to each other. Their voices steadily increased in volume until they were shouting at each other, blaming each other for the affair and for getting caught. Their whole fight lasted about an hour and a half until someone slammed the front door shut, hard enough to rattle the rest of the house.
By then, I had already called for a cab and mostly finished packing. I had filled my suitcase, a duffel bag, and my biggest purse near to bursting with all of my stuff. The only thing I hadn't packed yet was my laptop, and that's because I was using it to book my flight to California.
"Bella?" Renee called softly and gently knocked on my door.
I didn't answer, but she came in anyway.
"What exactly do you think you're doing, Isabella Marie Swan?" she demanded of me when she saw the bags I had packed.
"I'm thinking that I want to visit Charlie and Vicky for a while," I responded evenly, trying to remember the last time I'd visited my dad and stepmother in California. It had been a while, because they had visited me in Arizona during the summer for the last 9 years.
Her eyes widened. "You can't do that!"
I finished booking my ticket on my laptop and then closed it. "I just booked my flight, actually."
"But," she sputtered, "Who's going to take care of the house? Who's going to take care of me?"
"You have two capable men willing to take care of you, Renee. Take your pick," I snapped.
Her eyes hardened. "I didn't mean for you to see that. I'm sorry," she apologized, only sounding half-sincere.
"Yeah, you didn't mean for anyone to see it, but I did. So that means you're going to slip up soon, and James will be the one to walk in on you. Then you'll have to deal with the consequences of your actions all on your own, like a real adult," I ranted exasperatedly.
"You don't get to judge me for what I choose to do in my private life, young lady," Renee admonished.
"I do when it also affects me! James has been really, really good to us. I refuse to just stand by and watch you destroy your marriage and break his heart!" I retorted angrily.
James was, by far, the best stepfather I'd ever had. He was funny and kind. He never made me feel like he was trying to replace my dad, but he also didn't try to act like my best friend rather than an authority figure. And when everything with Jacob and Leah had gone down nine months ago, he backed me up to the parents that believed the rumors circling the school and had put a stop to their harassment.
He was amazing to Renee too. He was levelheaded so he was able to calm her down whenever she dissolved into hysterics. He was responsible and steady, which balanced her free spirit, but in a way that didn't smother her. Most of all, he really loved and cared for her. I saw the adoration in his eyes every time he looked at Renee. I imagined how heartbroken he would be when he found out she'd cheated on him, and I felt so terrible for him.
I studied Renee for a moment. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was a mess. Her hazel eyes were puffy and tinged red, as if she'd been crying, and her crow's feet seemed to have deepened within the last couple of hours. Her full lips were set in a firm frown, as she pinched the bridge of her straight nose.
Not for the first time, I wondered why she continued to cheat. I knew that all of her husbands had loved her a lot. I'd seen their love for her and I had also seen their heartbreak when she betrayed them. I supposed that, to a certain extent, she needed the extra assurance that she could be loved so she felt compelled to cheat. But knowing that didn't make me feel sorry for her, not when she kept treating everyone around her so callously.
"Please don't go," she pleaded.
"You're not going to change my mind," I said firmly. "I can't stay here, watch you self-destruct, and then fix you again."
I heard a honk from outside, signaling that the taxi I called for had arrived. "I'll text you when I get there," I told her as I grabbed all of my stuff and hauled it out to the cab.
"Airport please," I told the cab driver and we took off.
I closed my eyes and played with my cell phone in my hands, debating whether I should tell Charlie that I was on my way there or if I should just show up on his doorstep. It had been so long since I'd been to Charlie and Vicky's house that I thought it would be nice to surprise them.
Besides, I was a little worried that Charlie would try to convince me to stay and work things out with Renee. He was always trying to be the peacemaker in my relationship with my mom. I just didn't have the patience or the energy to try to fix things with Renee right now, not when I was so upset with her. I'd reached my limit and needed some time to think things over.
"Miss, we're here," the cab driver said, and I climbed out of the car.
He helped me with my bags, so I tipped him when I paid my fare.
I had to rush through checking in my suitcase and going through security because there wasn't a lot of time before my flight. I made it to my terminal just as they finished boarding everyone else. There was only one seat left, all the way at the back of the plane and next to a tired-looking couple with a baby that was already starting to fuss.
I mentally groaned as I squeezed past everyone to the back of the plane. One of the stewardesses helped me shove my duffel bag in the overhead cabinets and then I sat down with a heavy breath, finally relaxing a bit.
I plugged my earphones into my phone, after putting it on airplane mode, and then put on my music. We Must Get Out by Maroon 5 came on.
This city's made us crazy and we must get out, Adam Levine sang and I definitely identified with that statement.
The past year had been so rough that I'd been really looking forward to laying low for the summer. Renee's most recent bout of infidelity was just the icing on top of the cake.
Maybe being in another state, so far away from all of the drama, is just what I need, I thought. And I do really miss Charlie.
Because my dad owned and ran an elite security agency, he and my stepmother, Victoria, were only able to visit me once a year for three weeks during the summer. To make up for the lack of visitation, Charlie and I made sure to talk for an hour or two every Sunday morning. It wasn't the same as seeing each other, but I loved my dad. I don't know how I would have gotten through all of the bullying at school without him talking me through it.
And Victoria was great. She was sweet, just perky enough to balance my dad's gruff seriousness, and had a stubborn streak that kept him on his toes. Vicky was a CPA at an accounting firm where my dad had been hired to set up security feeds. That's how they met when I was 11, and they got married two years later. Victoria was the perfect woman to help my dad finally move on from my mom.
It had taken seven long years for Charlie to recover from Renee. My parents were high school sweethearts, and their intense romance resulted in my mom getting pregnant with me at 16. They got married right out of high school, because they thought they were it for each other.
They were wrong. Some of my earliest memories were of them arguing with each other, behind closed doors and in plain sight. The worst fight I ever witnessed between them was the day Charlie left because he caught Renee cheating on him. That was when I was 4, and my parents divorced soon after. Renee won custody of me, not that Charlie fought too hard in the first place. I think I reminded him too much of her.
After the divorce was finalized, Charlie moved to California to start his security agency, and the rest was history.
Wow, I have enough baggage to singlehandedly fill this entire plane, I thought to myself amusedly. Maybe even a whole airport, if I really got into the details and include all the drama from school.
I was startled out of my thoughts by the plane touching down. Checking the time, I realized I'd been lost in my thoughts the whole flight. It took a while for me to get off the plane and grab my suitcase from the baggage claim, but thankfully, it wasn't difficult to find a taxi.
Charlie lived on this strip of land two miles into the ocean, just off the coast of Santa Barbara. It was really just a thin, mile-long island with five large houses in a row on top of it. Instead of being made of sand, the island was carved out of a huge slab of rock. Seriously, the base of the stone was massive in length, width, and height, which is why the residents of the island didn't worry about the water eroding the foundation enough to be dangerous. However, due to the weathering of the rock from the water and wind, the sides of the island were smooth.
There were wooden docks lining the sides of the island and stairs were carved into the side of the rock to lead to the houses. All of the residents had boats to get to and from shore, and they also had cars parked in the private garage just above the docks on shore.
It was a beautiful place to live, and I was ecstatic that I'd get to stay there for three months. My excitement only grew when I first caught sight of the ocean.
I forgot how beautiful the ocean is, I thought as I stared at the blue-green water and golden sand.
The taxi driver dropped me off at the onshore docks for the island. I thanked and paid him, and then I heaved all of my luggage onto the boardwalk. About halfway down, I stopped and looked out to the island, shielding my eyes from the sun and the glare from the water.
I tried to figure out how to get to the island without telling Charlie and Vicky that I was here. I mean, I could easily swim the distance there and back. I was the co-captain of my swim team in Arizona, after all. But I'd have to leave my luggage here, and I highly doubted it would still be here when I returned.
I sighed and was about to call Charlie when a voice caught my attention.
"Excuse me, miss!" a voice called, and I turned in the direction of it.
I saw two boys and a girl around my age on a boat docked a few yards away from me. I walked towards them, dragging my suitcase and slinging my duffel bag over my shoulder.
"Can we help you?" one of them asked kindly.
He was tall and lanky, with honey-blonde hair, tan skin, and a slight southern drawl. His light blue eyes and easygoing smile made him seem very sincere.
"Um…" I said, just realizing that this would probably sound weird to them.
"You just seemed a little lost, so we thought we could help you out or something," the other boy said.
This guy was very tall and as muscular as a bodybuilder with short, curly dark hair. I would have been intimidated by him, if it weren't for his playful brown eyes and deep dimples.
"This is going to sound kind of weird," I started and pointed to the little island just off the coast. "But do you think you could give me a ride to that island over there?"
"And why would you need to get there?" the girl asked me with a cocked eyebrow.
She was gorgeous, and if I had been any less self-assured than I was, my self-esteem would have crumpled. She had long, straight hair that was the same shade as Jasper's. She had his eyes too, but the look she was giving me made her seem much colder, and much more aloof.
"I'm dropping in on my father for a surprise visit," I said and smiled, despite the major bitch face she was directing at me.
It wasn't necessarily a lie. But it's not like I was going to tell these strangers my life story right off the bat.
"Who's your dad?" the girl asked, glaring at me as if daring me to lie.
"Charlie Swan," I answered right away.
"Oh," the blonde boy said. "You're Isabella, aren't you? Charlie talks about you all the time."
"Yes, but please call me Bella," I said easily.
"Well, Bella," the big guy corrected himself. "I'm Emmett, this is Jasper, and that beautiful lady over there is my Rosalie. We're your neighbors, the Cullens."
"It's nice to meet you all," I said, smiling at each of them.
"Nice to meet you too," Emmett and Jasper replied.
Rosalie just looked me up and down and then looked in another direction.
"We'd love to give you a ride to the island," Jasper said and gestured for me to get closer to the boat so they could help me up.
"Thank you so much," I said and dragged my stuff to the boat. I handed Jasper my duffel bag and Emmett my suitcase so that they could get it on board.
As soon as Emmett took the suitcase from me, his eyes widened in surprise. "Holy crap, Bella," he huffed slightly. "What's in here?"
"My entire wardrobe, including shoes and accessories," I responded breezily as I climbed onto the boat.
Rosalie said while eyeing my suitcase and duffel bag, "You must have a small wardrobe. It doesn't look like too much could fit in there."
I grinned, "Actually, you know those space saving bags that are always advertised on TV? I used a ton of them to make all of my stuff fit."
Rosalie's expression morphed into one of mild admiration. "Nice," she simply said then looked away.
Jasper said, clearly amused, "Alice is going to love you."
"Alice?" I asked as he and Emmett prepped the boat.
"Jasper's girlfriend," Emmett answered with a dimpled smile.
"Does she live on the island?" I inquired, setting my purse on the deck.
"She lives with us," Rosalie replied, sounding bored as she examined her nails.
"Huh?" I asked, because I was completely lost. What kind of family lets their son's girlfriend live in their house?
"There are five of us," Emmett explained as he turned the boat on and began navigating our way home. "Seven if you include our adoptive parents, Carlisle and Esme. There's Jasper, Rosalie, Alice, Edward and me. We're all adopted. I'm with Rosalie, and Jasper is with Alice. Edward is… unattached but believes in just having 'fun'." Emmett even made the air-quotes gesture using both his hands, momentarily taking his hands off the wheel.
"Ahh, I see," I said and rolled my eyes. While I didn't necessarily believe in long-term relationships, I also didn't appreciate the way that some guys led girls on to get sex or whatever else they wanted. I sat down on the side of the boat next to Rosalie. She turned to look at me.
"So why are you here?" Rosalie asked bluntly.
"Rose," Jasper admonished.
"What? It's just a question," she said then rolled her eyes. "We've never met her and we've lived at the island for, like, seven years now."
I met Rosalie's eyes and explained, "Charlie has been visiting me in Arizona for the last nine years. He said it was so that I wouldn't have to worry about flying as an unaccompanied minor to and from Arizona. Since he used to be a police officer, he's very protective. He was worried that something would happen to me if I were alone in an airport."
Rosalie nodded, but she was still looking at me like I was hiding something. She didn't question me any further though, so I relaxed against the railing of the boat.
The sun felt so nice on my skin. I was only in a white tank top and colorful capri leggings. I hadn't even thought to change from my gym clothes. It was difficult for me to believe that I had tried to go to the gym just a couple of hours ago.
The sound of a loud motor approaching startled me from my thoughts. Then, a large wave of ocean water pelted the side of the boat, splashing Rosalie and me. We both gasped in surprise. I stood up, Rosalie quickly following me, to find the source of the water.
Looking out onto the water, we saw a lean-muscled guy with golden skin and bronze hair as he rode away on a jet ski.
"Jackass!" we yelled at him at the same time.
We shared an annoyed look, and checked to make sure that we weren't too wet.
"Freakin' Edward," Rosalie complained.
"That was Edward?" I asked and shook my head in annoyance.
"What a douchebag," Rosalie and I said at the same time in the same tone.
We looked at each other then, and Rosalie broke into a smile.
"We're going to get along just fine," she said, nodding in approval.
"Glad to hear it," I smiled back at her.
We saw Jasper and Emmett share a look. Jasper shrugged, and Emmett muttered, "Girls are weird."
Rosalie rolled her eyes at him and I chuckled as we sat down on the dry side of the boat. We all chatted a bit about what there was to do for fun around here, and they invited me to come over to their house and hang out for a bit tomorrow.
It didn't take longer than ten minutes to get to the island, but I already felt like I had a good idea of who Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were. They seemed like good people to hang around, despite Rosalie taking a little while to warm up to me. Jasper and Rosalie assured me that I'd love Alice too, even though she was a bit much to handle at first.
Once the boys finished docking the boat, Rosalie helped me get my stuff onto the dock. Emmett lugged my suitcase up the stairs, because there's no way anyone else would have been able to do it.
Emmett wasn't kidding when he said they were Charlie's neighbors. They lived in the house right next door to him, so they walked me most of the way to my dad's house.
"Thanks so much for the ride!" I called to them as they walked up the path to their house.
"No problem. See you later, Bells!" Emmett yelled and waved like a little kid as they walked through the front door.
I grinned at his use of a nickname for me already. Then, I steeled myself and walked the rest of the way to Charlie's house. I hadn't been there in almost a decade, but the house hadn't changed at all.
I walked up to the front door, took a deep breath, and then rang the doorbell.
Please don't let this be a mistake, I hoped to myself.
So I'm making some edits to this story in the hopes of making it better.
Let me know what you think!